The Legend of the Kalos Trio
by Arceusfish
Summary: Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde's origin. In the awakening of the destruction pokemon Yveltal, will Xerneas be able to save Kalos after a personal tragedy? Or will she also need the help of a mysterious green stranger?
1. Prologue

Long ago in the Kalos Region, when the land was mostly forest, there lived a young man. More precisely, he was the heir to the throne of the Kalos region, and because of this he lived in a large castle at the top of a mountain overlooking the entire region. The mountain was home to many pokémon, and the people of the castle created wonderful gardens that cascaded down the mountain's sides. The young man loved to play in the gardens because he loved pokémon and always liked to see how many different kinds he could find. One day, while he was running down the mountain path, he saw something sitting at the edge of a steep cliff. Unable to overcome his curiosity, he walked over and saw several liepard crouching at the cliff's edge and staring downwards. He could hear them growling and hissing, and tried to stay a little ways away to avoid being attacked. From his hiding spot behind a tree, the young man got a glimpse of what the liepard were looking at. On a smaller ledge five feet or so down the cliff a deerling was frightfully clinging to the slumped shape of a sawsbuck. Judging by how much dust covered the deerling's pink spring form coat, it looked as though it and the sawsbuck had fallen. The young man couldn't help but do something; he couldn't stand to see a helpless pokémon be devoured by the liepard. He grabbed a small rock that lay at his feet and held it in the palm of his hand as he waited for the right time to throw it.

* * *

"Aleron, I can't reach them!" a female liepard yelled as she failed at another attempt to hook the deerling with her claws.

"Well, keep trying, Nadine! We don't have all day!"

Nadine reached down with her paw as far as she could, her claws missing the deerling's nose by a few inches. "I still can't!"

Aleron rolled his eyes. "You're so lazy. Just reach a little farther. And do it quick, I can feel my stomach eating itself!"

"If you think it's so easy, then you do it, pea-brain!" Nadine screeched, her whiskers and tail twitching in anger.

"Oh, you want me to now? You said you could do it yourself!" Aleron yelled back, his green eyes seething with rage.

"When did I say that?" Nadine hissed back.

The little deerling stopped watching the two liepards as they started to argue and forget she was even there. She looked back toward her mother, the sawsbuck, and pressed her face against her side. She could feel a slight movement from breathing, but nothing as strong as she had remembered. She suddenly looked up as she heard a noise. The liepards had been startled by something and were running away, abandoning their potential meal. The face of a human appeared at the top of the cliff, and the deerling watched as the human carefully slid onto the little outcrop she was on.

"It's okay, I'll help you," the human said to her cautiously.

The deerling shook her head and slunk back towards her mother. The fur was even colder than before and the movement had stopped.

"You can't go back with her," the human added, analyzing the sawsbuck carefully. "she's not…alive anymore."

The deerling flinched as she heard those words, knowing their meaning. She peeked up at the young man, wondering if it was best to live in the wild by herself or go with him to wherever he would take her. Either way it was risky; she hadn't even been with her mother long enough to remember her own name. Her mother hadn't had time to teach her many survival skills either. The deerling slowly made up her mind, took her head out of her mother's cold fur, and stepped towards the young man. He grabbed her and carefully made his way up the cliff side until he was back on the grass. The deerling could barely stand up for being so weak from the fall, so he carried her all the way back to the castle at the top of the mountain.

* * *

They eventually made their way into the castle past the royal Aegislash guards. The young man ran frantically through the castle's many halls and corridors as the banded highlights and shadows of the windows rushed by, and didn't give a second thought to anything around him. He only stopped when he came to a large musty room that smelled of herbs. A scrawny old woman dressed in rags was chopping up leaves near the back wall, zoned out from the world around her.

"Hilda," the young man called over to her. "I have something here that you need to see."

Hilda, not the least bit startled at the young man's frantic call, put down her knife and turned around. "What is it Aldrich…oh my!" She quickly ran over and looked upon the injured deerling with a wise and experienced eye. "I will get you back to good health." she said, knowing the problem before Aldrich could explain. She quickly gathered up some herbs and started to mash them in a bowl with water. Aldrich just watched her, wondering how she could figure out things when he hadn't even explained anything yet. She had always been an interesting and mysterious woman, and there were rumors in the castle that she had magical powers. Aldrich's father had once told him that when he himself was a little boy Hilda had showed up at the castle insisting that she get a job there to help guide Kalos's future. This made absolutely no sense to everyone that saw her at the time, but she was a nice and caring lady that could heal many ailments, and Aldrich's grandfather accepted her as part of the royal staff. Despite her seemingly very old age, her habit of always wearing rags, and her bony appearance, she was as young and sprightly as ever, and Aldrich was happy to call her his friend.

The deerling was also mesmerized by how the strange, hunched woman effortlessly blended the herbs into a life-saving formula, but her fatigue was so great and her eyelids so heavy that she couldn't help but slip into darkness. As her consciousness ebbed away she thought she heard Hilda whisper in her ear.

"I have been waiting for you for a very long time, young one. Whatever happens, I will be there to guide the future of Kalos."

* * *

The deerling awoke on a cushioned pokémon bed, remembering all at once what had happened recently. She looked around at the room she was in and noticed a large, ornate human bed against the far wall. _This must be Aldrich's room,_ she thought to herself. She was jolted out of her thoughts when she heard a muffled sound coming from the opposite end of the room. She slowly crept out of her bed, making sure to place her hooves on the wooden floor lightly so they wouldn't clop. She crept up to the bed and saw that Aldrich was sleeping soundly in it. He suddenly awoke as he sensed her presence and looked at her fondly. "So, you're awake now," he said happily as he got up and placed his feet on the floor. "I was talking to my parents during the few days you were asleep and they agreed that it would be best if you stay here."\

The deerling cocked her head to one side and uttered a questioning mew.

"What I mean is," Aldrich continued, "would you like to be my pokémon from now on? You don't have to if you don't want to."

The deerling thought about this. She had nowhere else to go anyway; her mother was dead and hadn't had enough time to pass on her survival skills.

Finally making up her mind, the deerling nodded yes.

"Wonderful!" Aldrich replied. "But you need a name now. Let's see, what should it be?" he furrowed his brow in thought. "Oh, I know! Your name shall be Xerneas, after the goddess of beauty that my ancestors used to worship. I think it fits you perfectly!"

 _Xerneas…_ she ran the name through her head, liking the ominous ring it had, and jumped into her new trainer's arms happily.


	2. Chapter 1: A Dark New Age

Xerneas awoke and sleepily stretched out her legs in her cushioned nest. Smelling the fresh spring air seeping through the slightly open window, she walked over to it and pushed aside the dark red drapery to look outside. The rays of golden sunlight fell over her whole body, illuminating the stone-walled room and causing the pink flowers on her spring form sawsbuck antlers to reopen for the day. In the twenty years or so she had lived at the castle she had become Aldrich's best battling partner and friend. But so much had changed since she had been rescued as a helpless deerling. She had evolved into a sawsbuck, and Aldrich had gotten older and became the king of Kalos. He was very busy these days, and having a son and another child on the way didn't help that cause at all. But he and Xerneas still found time to spend together and battle other trainers as much as they could.

Xerneas sighed softly as she looked out the window at the view of the mountain range and valleys of the western Kalos region, marveling at the small bright green leaves that the trees were producing. _Each leaf is so small close up, Xerneas thought to herself, and yet together they create one solid landscape unlike anything else in the world…_

Suddenly realizing that her fatigue had worn off and her stomach was beginning to growl, Xerneas left the window and made her way down the long hallways and flights of stairs that led to the kitchen.

* * *

"To be, or not to be, that is the question," Hamlet ran through his soliloquy, continuing to say how people would rather go through the torments of life than encounter the unknown of death. Before he could recite another line, Xerneas was alerted by the smell and steam of piping hot green tea. Closing the cover of Shakespeare's _Hamlet_ , one of her favorite pieces of literature, she bent down her head to blow on and sip the tea from her pokémon-sized bowl.

"You just love your tea, don't you, Xerneas?" Emory, the royal cook asked. "You're a strange one."

Xerneas smiled. _Yes_ , she thought, _I am very much like a human, aren't I? Aside from not being able to speak human language, of course._

"Aldrich instructed me to tell you that he wishes to see you in his throne room as soon as you are finished with your breakfast." Emory explained as she placed a plate of fresh berries on the table. "It sounded urgent to me." Xerneas nodded, quickly sipping her tea and munching on her berries. As soon as she finished she bowed her head to Emory in gratitude and ran up the long flight of stairs to the main hallway that led to the throne room.

* * *

 _Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop._ Xerneas's hooves made small noises that were amplified by the main hallway's tall ceiling and resonated in the stone walls. She was running as fast as she could without attracting too much attention from the various servants that were working around the castle. She didn't want anyone to get suspicious in case Aldrich hadn't wanted anyone else to know about his invitation to talk with her. The servants weren't always trustworthy with secret information.

As she approached the giant gold-plated doors that opened up to the throne room, she looked around to make sure no one was watching her, opened the door slightly, and slid through to the other side as quickly as possible. The cold metallic surface of the door brushed her flank, leaving a cold gash on her skin that only added to her sudden apprehension about the motives of Aldrich's talk. As she entered the throne room the heavy doors behind her closed forcefully, causing her to jump in anxious surprise. Everything seemed to move in slow motion from there. She just kept staring ahead at the two large thrones in front of her and the large, circular stained glass window behind them that depicted a picture of Arceus, the fabled creator of the universe. She walked cautiously across the long purple rug that stretched from the doors to the throne. When she came to the end of the rug, she stood up stiffly, watching Aldrich and his wife Rebecca sit side by side and read a piece of parchment. They were not dressed in their usual royal attire, as they were both wearing their nightdresses, and it seemed as though they hadn't had a chance to wake up completely. A servant was standing at the side of the throne, patiently awaiting Aldrich's command.

"Go fetch Griffón. He must hear this as well so he can prepare the royal guard and aegislash army." Aldrich ordered without taking his eyes off the parchment.

"Of course, my Lord." The servant ran past Xerneas and through the double doors.

Aldrich finally pulled his eyes away from the scroll to look at Xerneas, knowing that she was there all along. His eyes quickly brightened as he looked at her, happy to see his favorite pokémon and friend. Setting the parchment down on the throne, he walked over to Xerneas and patted her head. Rebecca followed more slowly, her pregnant belly making it hard for her to get off the high throne.

"Xerneas," Aldrich explained when Rebecca finally walked over, "there have been… some unforeseen dangers that I was informed of early this morning. To the east of here, in a very large and uncharted forest-"

"-the Allearth forest," Rebecca chipped in.

Aldrich sighed. "Yes, in the _Allearth Forest_ there have been reports of a large bird pokémon being spotted flying over small villages and such where soldiers have been traveling. It seems to be sending out rays of energy from its mouth and turning things to stone. Apparently it is called Yveltal, and my soldiers say that it is moving northwest, which would be towards us. I want to know if you have heard anything from any other pokémon, Xerneas. We may all be in grave danger." His gaze locked with Xerneas's, and in the depths of his eyes she could see hopelessness and fear, something she rarely saw in Aldrich.

Xerneas thought long and hard about what she had heard recently, but she could recall nothing regarding a dangerous bird pokémon. She wished she had something to tell him, something to write on a piece of parchment so he would understand, like she usually did, but all she could do was shake her head.

Aldrich slumped down on his knees in frustration, leaning his head against Xerneas's shoulder. She placed her head on top of his in a gesture of comfort. _I will protect you…_ she spoke in her head, even though he couldn't hear her.

Suddenly the large double doors opened their gold-plated jaws with a deep creaking sound, and Aldrich hurriedly sat back on his throne. Rebecca walked over to her own throne and Xerneas helped her up onto it. After both of them were seated, Xerneas stood by Rebecca's throne, watching as Griffón, the head commander of the royal guard, bowed to Aldrich and asked him why he had sent for him.

Aldrich took a few seconds to regain his regal composure before speaking. "We have a serious problem, Griffón. There is a apparently a pokémon to the southeast of here that has been wreaking havoc on all the living things in its path by attacking them, taking their life energy with a large beam, and turning them to stone." He didn't give time for the commander to react as he continued. "I have been informed very early this morning by a letter from traveling soldiers that this pokémon heading straight for us. If these rumors are true, then we must take evasive action and prepare the soldiers and aegislash for battle. We cannot let this Giratina-cursed creature destroy us…" he trailed off and lowered his head, not wanting to speak of the possible outcome.

"My Lord, I will do whatever it takes to prepare our men and aegislash to fight even Arceus himself." Griffón said, his elegantly armored suit clanging as he briskly placed his hand over his heart. "We will not let this be the end of us."

"Do whatever you have to then," Aldrich replied, still looking down at the floor. "I give you permission to train them as hard as you wish, as long as they can fight when need be."

"Yes, my Lord." Griffón took his sword out of its sheath, placing it in the air in front of him in a gesture of loyalty. "I will do my best." He put his sword back and walked out stiffly, his armor clanging until the doors closed behind him and all was silent in the throne room again.

Xerneas walked in front of Aldrich's throne, and a servant that was standing to the side handed her a quill and a piece of parchment. She took the ink-filled quill in her teeth and with practiced skill wrote a single question on the parchment. When she was finished, the servant took both the items and handed Aldrich the parchment. He read it slowly.

 _Is there anything that I can do to help with this, Aldrich? I will do anything you ask of me._

 _-Xerneas_

Aldrich was at a loss for words for a moment, not knowing what to tell Xerneas. "Do whatever you feel is necessary to help save this place, Xerneas. He didn't even bother disguising the hopelessness in his voice. "There isn't a lot you _can_ do. I…I'm sorry." He crumpled up the parchment, keeping it in his hand, and walked past Xerneas to exit through the doors. Rebecca followed him as fast as she could.

"Aldrich…!" Rebecca called to him, not getting a response as she plunged through the doors.

Xerneas wasn't sure how to react. Aldrich was always calm and levelheaded, but he seemed to lose everything over the life-sucking bird pokémon. If Aldrich didn't know what to do, then no one would. _Oh, Arceus,_ Xerneas prayed and raised her head to the white quadruped being surrounded by seventeen colored squares on the stained glass window. _Don't let this pokémon destroy us all…_

* * *

Over the next few days Xerneas spent most of her time in the gardens around the castle, reading the same books over and over again. She woke up in the middle of every night, sweaty and feverish from nightmares about a winged life-sucking demon, and read her many books to calm herself down. At least once a day she walked into the throne room secretly, collapsed on the rug where the sunset casted the stained glass's colors on the floor, and cried in the shining shape of Arceus and his plates. Praying to Arceus to help steer the strange life-sucking pokémon away from the castle became a daily routine for Xerneas. She wondered if the being had gotten tired of her sobbing and praying the same words over and over again, but whenever she looked up at the stained glass window, there was the same form of Arceus, in the same pose, always with the unreadable expression; she could never tell what he thought of the small brown shape crying in his light shadow.

* * *

Xerneas lay awake in her cushioned pokémon bed, staring at the ceiling in thought. She had once again been awakened by a nightmare about the fabled pokémon heading for the castle, but this time she was too tired to strain her eyes further with reading her books that she had nearly memorized. Suddenly, jolted out of her thoughts, she heard anxious footsteps outside of her closed door. The door opened abruptly and a servant rushed in. "Xerneas!" the short man called to her. Xerneas sat up in her bed to let the servant know that she was listening. "You must come at once! The queen is going to have her baby and she needs your knowledge of the herbs." The servant waited there, staring at Xerneas, who could not possibly answer since she could not speak human language. All she could do was nod her head sleepily and follow the servant to the King and Queen's room. _I just hope that my meager knowledge of herbs is helpful…_ she thought to herself.

* * *

Xerneas was able to assist Hilda in giving Rebecca helpful herbs, until finally she gave birth to a baby girl, whom she and Aldrich named Peony. As Xerneas was helping Hilda pack up her herbs at the foot of the King and Queen's bed, Rebecca and Aldrich called her over.

"You have been such a help to us, Xerneas." Rebecca acknowledged as she held her daughter for the first time. "I don't know what Aldrich and I would do without you." Aldrich nodded in agreement, glancing down at his new daughter. "We named her Peony because it reminded us of the flowers that bloom on your antlers every spring. Maybe one day she will be as noble as you, Xerneas."

As soon as those words left Aldrich's mouth, his son Aldrich Jr. ran into the room to see his younger sister, pushing multiple people and pokémon out of the way in the process. "I wanna see! I wanna see!" He yelled frantically, waving his arms above his head. Xerneas quickly stepped out of the way to let him stare at the baby and turned to leave when Aldrich started scolding his son for being obnoxious.

Before she walked out the door, Xerneas stood in the middle of the large circular rug beside the bed. _Me, noble?_ She asked herself as she stared up at the large vaulted ceiling. _What have I done to be noble?_ She looked back at the royal family as they welcomed their newest member. _I cannot even save them from Yveltal. How is that noble? I have not died for someone, I have not sacrificed myself or my well-being for a cause. I have only been cared for, been supplied with knowledge and books, and what do I give in return? Assistance. Nothing more. I am worth even less than the most worthless characters in my books. They at least are part of meaningful stories, but what am I? A servant destined to be another one of Yveltal's stone statues…_

"Xerneas," Hilda spoke beside her, bringing her back to the real world. Xerneas turned around to face the old woman. "Do not think so lowly of yourself." Hilda said. "You mean more to this castle, no, this _region_ than you could ever imagine. Just give it time and you will realize."

 _But, Yveltal…_ Xerneas thought to herself, but Hilda seemed to hear it.

"Sometimes what we consider to be bad things close some doors but open others up." Hilda smiled and walked out of the room, her large bag of herbs swaying with each step.

Xerneas, too tired to wonder much about Hilda's meaning or strangeness, left the room. As she walked back to her lonely bedroom and sat back in her pokémon bed, she picked up _Hamlet_ again, and read one line.

"Why, then, 'tis none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Hamlet said to his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

* * *

Xerneas awoke as she heard many footsteps outside her door. As she started to fully wake up, she realized that she had fallen asleep while still holding _Hamlet_. She gingerly grabbed the book, got out of bed, and placed it under her pillow. A strange feeling struck her, and she had the sudden urge to reopen the book again. Grabbing it in her teeth for the second time, she let it fall to the floor and open to a random page. "They say the owl was a baker's daughter. Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be. God be at your table." Ophelia spoke to the king in her crazed state. Xerneas quickly closed the book and shoved it back under her pillow as a servant burst through the door.

"Xerneas, come quick! We are being attacked!" He ran away as quickly as he had come in, and Xerneas followed at his heels, too preoccupied with Yveltal to realize that she had just read the last line she would ever read of her favorite piece of literature.

* * *

Xerneas ran through crowds of servants as she made her way to the throne room, losing her balance with every large explosion that came from outside. Dust and small pieces of stone fell from the ceiling as the castle shook from what felt like many earthquakes. She finally made it to the throne room in one piece and saw her trainer, fully dressed in his kingly attire, instructing Griffón and the royal aegislash how to fight the enemy. As soon as she saw Griffón and his army leave, she ran up to Aldrich. She stared at him determinedly, and they both knew in their wordless language that he could do nothing to prevent her from fighting. "Be careful, Xerneas," Aldrich pleaded, "I don't want to lose you."

Xerneas, knowing that the odds of this battle were not very good, gave Aldrich a stern nod before she ran straight down the hallway that led outside. She slowly opened the front doors and a gruesome scene unfolded before her. The granite walkway and fountain that made up the landscape in front of the castle were polluted with lifeless bodies of people and pokémon that trailed up to where the last few guards were defending the castle. Xerneas weaved her way through the mutilated bodies, noticing that not all of them were turned to stone. _I guess Yveltal knows more attacks, then,_ she told herself grimly. She finally made her way to where the remaining aegislash and royal guard were fighting a large y-shaped flying creature. Its belly glowed a bright red and it glared at its opponents like prey, its icy blue eyes glazed over with an angry red aura. It lashed out with the large black claws on its wings, toppling twenty or so people and pokémon with one blow.

"Fools," it roared in a deep voice that only pokémon could understand, "you cannot defeat Yveltal! I am too powerful for you! Get out of my way!"

Xerneas, angered by Yveltal's senseless attacks and arrogance, blindly whipped up a leaf storm and forced it at Yveltal. It barely scratched the monster's pelt, but he was nevertheless angered. Throwing back his head, he let out an angry roar and a ring of dark aura exploded around him, knocking down the humans and aegislash that the attack was super effective to.

 _Dark pulse!_ Xerneas tried to dodge but the dark wave hit her like a cannon, slamming her into the granite surface of the fountain. Taking a few seconds to steady her spinning vision, Xerneas looked around and saw that no guards or aegislash were left standing. Whether they were alive or dead, she did not know; all she wanted to do was run away. Setting her sights on the large open doors of the castle, Xerneas quickly made a run for it, leaping over the bodies of fallen aegislash and guards.

"It seems that I am not finished yet! Get back here, sawsbuck!" Yveltal roared again as he flew after Xerneas. Lucky for Xerneas, she had a head start and quickly made it through the doors, kicking them shut behind her. She heard Yveltal roar in anger and beat the door a few times, but eventually the noise died down. Xerneas didn't bother to check whether or not Yveltal had left; instead she ran as fast as she could to the throne room. The gold-plated doors almost burst off their hinges as Xerneas busted her way through them, surprising the many servants and royalty seeking refuge in the room.

"Aldrich! Yveltal has destroyed the defensive forces!" Xerneas yelled, forgetting that to humans, her voice only sounded like pokémon grunts and squeals. Aldrich ran up to Xerneas and placed a hand on her head.

"Where is that insipid creature?!" he asked frantically.

"He-" Xerneas was cut off as a huge shape crashed through the stained glass window of Arceus, destroying the wall and part of the ceiling. Colored glass and pieces of rock flew everywhere, buffeting Xerneas's fur as she flinched.

"There you are, you cowardly fools!" Yveltal roared at the large group of people and pokémon staring up at him in fright. He looked around and his blue eyes lit up with a malicious fire when he spied Xerneas. "You will die first!" he screamed at her, whipping back his head as he collected energy for an attack. He shot a large red beam of evil light down at Xerneas, but before she was hit Aldrich jumped in front of her.

"Don't hurt Xerneas!" Aldrich's cry was muffled as he was hit with the beam of energy that froze him in place and turned him to lifeless gray stone.

"No, Aldrich!" Rebecca yelled. She ran towards her husband, still holding young Peony, but Yveltal shot another beam down, turning her and everyone else in the room to stone. Xerneas, who was barely conscious as she cowered behind Aldrich's stone body, heard Yveltal cackle with laughter as he whipped his wings and tail across the room, breaking the once-living stone creatures and demolishing most of the castle. Xerneas eventually blacked out as the chunks of stone cascaded down around her.

* * *

When Xerneas regained consciousness it seemed to be early morning. Looking around cautiously, she didn't understand the rubble around her until she came out of the daze of sleep and remembered everything. _Maybe it was a nightmare…_ she told herself, but the gaping hole in the castle and the pieces of stone people and pokémon scattered across the dust-covered rug begged to differ. It had not been a figment of her imagination. She slowly got up and looked at the stone pieces in front of her. If someone had come upon the scene not knowing what had happened, they might have thought that a bunch of statues had been destroyed. But Xerneas knew that these "statues" had once been living things. All of the royal servants, their pokémon, and even the royal family were gone, reduced to a pile of rubble. Dazed by grief, Xerneas ran through the gold covered doors that were now broken open and through the hall to the outside terrace. All the royal guards and aegislash that she had seen mauled by Yveltal were also turned to stone, their lifeless forms blending in with the sidewalk and stone fountain. The fountain had ceased to run, giving the place the eerie and quiet atmosphere of a deserted warzone.

Plunging further into despair, Xerneas ran back to what was left of the throne room and stood before the pile of stone bodies. They were so mutilated and destroyed that she couldn't tell which pieces had belonged to which life form. _Aldrich, Rebecca, Aldrich Jr., and Peony. Oh, Peony, you weren't even a day old…_ Xerneas collapsed onto the floor and cried the most she had ever cried in her life. The more she cried, the worse she felt and the deeper Yveltal's knife dug into her heart.

Xerneas stayed by the stones for days as the sunlight through the broken stone wall came and faded like a golden tide, occasionally reflecting off of the shards of stained glass and causing small bands of color to cascade along what was left of the room's purple rug. And this time there was no Arceus to reflect his light-shadow on the crying brown shape.


	3. Chapter 2: Heart of Gold

Xerneas drifted slowly out of troubled sleep over and over again, not caring how tired she really was. The thought of moving away from the scene never crossed her mind until the seventh day, when she woke up with a strange feeling. Opening her eyelids slightly just to see a little of what was in front of her, Xerneas spotted a hunched shape standing at the edge of what used to be the castle wall, overlooking the steep side of the mountain. Xerneas slowly got up, recognizing the figure as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. "Hilda!" she yelled, stumbling over herself in an attempt to get to the mysterious woman who had somehow survived the tragedy.

Hilda turned around at the sound of her name and gave Xerneas a look full of pity. Before Xerneas could reach her, the old woman's shape started to fade away with the wind into the sunset. _Don't worry Xerneas; I will still guide the future of Kalos…_ the old woman's voice faded with her image, leaving Xerneas with a heart wrenching feeling of loneliness as she stared at the setting sun.

* * *

Xerneas watched as the sun set and the world was enveloped in darkness. As the moon started to rise over the far hills, Xerneas thought she spotted a strange flickering in the forest nearby. She walked over to the edge of the cliff where the castle wall had once been and saw a trail of colored lights leading from an outcropping close to where she was standing all the way around the side of the mountain. Unable to resist the urge to see what the lights were, she took one long look back at everything that made up her old life and jumped down to where the first light started. Each light disappeared as she walked into it, and as she looked farther up she saw that the trail led all the way down the mountain and deep into the southern Kalos wilderness. She had a strange instinct to follow it, even though she had no idea where she would end up. As she ran along the trail, the landscape eventually changed from scrubby, rocky ground to lush soil shaded by many enormous trees. As Xerneas reached the foot of the mountain she saw an old wooden sign with the words "Allearth Forest" painted on it. Despite the strange things that she had heard about the forest and the fact that Yveltal had somehow emerged from it, Xerneas pressed on. The lights wound around the thick trunks, down hills, and through valleys, until Xerneas spotted the last one in front of a dark cavern located between two roots of a very large tree. Worried that she had reached the end of her journey for nothing, Xerneas ran up to the light to beg it to show her the way, but it disappeared in front of her as she lost her footing and tumbled between the roots. In the dark she found herself falling down a steep, moss-covered slope until she saw light again. She eventually felt herself splash in shallow water as she hit the bottom of a rocky pool. Looking up, Xerneas saw the largest group of waterfalls she had ever seen in her life. They cascaded down giant sharp rocks, pounding the water below with a roar louder than a hundred angry tyrantrums.

 _Why would the lights lead me here?_ Xerneas asked herself, staring down at her reflection in the crystal-clear pool of water. Suddenly a new reflection joined hers, and she looked up at the being that stood before her. It was Hilda. Xerneas could only look at the old woman in awe as she changed into another familiar figure. It was the same creature that had cast his light shadow on her from the stained glass window, but the light radiating from his body now did not come from the sun, since it was the middle of the night. "Arceus…" Xerneas whispered, wondering if she was dreaming, if she would suddenly wake up and find herself beside the stone victims again, alone and forgotten.

"Yes, Xerneas, it is I." Arceus looked at her with both pity and joy.

"This whole time, it was you? _You_ were Hilda?" Xerneas was dumbfounded.

"It is my job to care for all the creatures in existence, and my job to guide the future of Kalos." Arceus looked at Xerneas happily.

"Then I guess you call letting the whole population at the top of the mountain die _caring for your creatures._ " Xerneas sneered, unable to conceal her rage.

"Xerneas," Arceus spoke, placing his pointed, gold-tipped foot on her shoulder. "Everything happens for a reason, and this life must end sometime. It cannot possibly go on forever. Even what we call eternal life in this life will eventually end in ways I cannot tell you, but I assure you it does. We are not meant to stay in this life; it is not the way to true happiness. We must all die and face judgment. Yveltal may be brutal, but with the right amount of balance, he will bring much-needed rejuvenation to the region."

"Rejuvenation?" Xerneas asked.

"Yes, " Arceus responded, motioning to the land surrounding them. "These forests have been growing nonstop since nearly the beginning of time. Things eventually get old, and when new things are allowed to grow, the forest becomes even more bountiful than before. You must help me, Xerneas. You can match Yveltal's power so that both of you can be good forces, in your own ways. Yveltal will clear the way for you, and you will seed it with new life that can reshape and revitalize this region. Will you help me, Xerneas?"

"And if I don't?" Xerneas was still skeptical.

"Then Yveltal will destroy everything, which is what he is working on this very minute. Kalos needs balance, Xerneas."

"You created Yveltal to destroy, didn't you?" Xerneas asked, disgusted.

"Not directly, no." Arceus responded. "Giratina created him from the darkness he conjures so that he could destroy our world. But, since I am the true creator of all things, Yveltal is in fact mine. He was given certain gifts, but what he chose to do with them is the fault of him only. I gave him a choice, nevertheless. Yveltal's power may be destructive and evil, but it can be turned into a force that Kalos, and the world, truly need. Without him, and without more help, Kalos will eventually grow old, lose its beauty, and whither. New must replace the old. You have the ability to change Yveltal into a force of _useful_ destruction, and that is why I have brought you here. I need to know if you are up to this, Xerneas."

Xerneas didn't know what to do. If she denied, she may be able to live in the woods by herself, but it seemed as though it would eventually be destroyed by Yveltal. If Yveltal was allowed to destroy everything, then Aldrich and all the others Xerneas loved had died for nothing. Just as she had done with Aldrich long ago, Xerneas looked Arceus straight in the eyes. "I will do whatever it takes, Arceus, but on one condition. If you want to give me the power to combat Yveltal, then also give me the power to grant eternal life so that I can revive my family and prove you wrong. Aldrich and the others did not deserve to die, and they would be happy to live forever and never see death again. Do we have a deal?"

"Of course, deal." Arceus replied with a sigh and a smile. "Just remember that wildfires may burn some trees, but let other creatures flourish in the new habitat. If those trees had never died, then the creatures of open space wouldn't have had a chance to thrive. Now, come." Arceus led Xerneas to the center of the pool below all the waterfalls as the moon crossed the sky directly above them. "I will grant you the immense power to give life, Xerneas. Use it wisely." Arceus flew into the air above Xerneas, and the rays of moonlight all directed on her as they intensified. She felt a strong burst of power surge through her, and it felt as if she had been struck by strange lightning. She felt as though she was growing taller and her antlers were lengthening. When the power finally faded, Arceus touched down in the water beside her and motioned for her to look at her reflection. Xerneas tilted her head down and gasped at the crystal blue water.

"I…I look so different…" Xerneas couldn't believe her eyes. She had grown at least three feet taller and her antlers had multiplied from two to eight, now spanning longer than the width of her body. Her fur had turned blue and black, her antlers were studded with colorful objects, and her feet had grown to spade-like points. A rainbow aura emanated from her body and illuminated the surrounding area. She felt more powerful than ever before. She looked back over to Arceus, who smiled.

"Remember, Xerneas. Use your power wisely. As I said before, eternal life may not be seen as a blessing by everyone. It can be a curse. My only mission for you is to stop Yveltal from destroying the world. That is all I ask of you." Arceus's red eyes narrowed and his smile disappeared.

Xerneas snorted and looked back at her reflection for a second. "Whatever, Arceus. Aldrich will be glad when I…" She trailed off as she noticed that Arceus had disappeared. "Fine, be that way." Xerneas looked up at the sky and snorted. "I'll prove you wrong." She trotted away from the waterfalls in the direction of the castle, but she stopped in her tracks as she felt as though something was tugging on her…soul? She started to sense a cold, dark aura surrounding her.

"You will not stand in my way…" a raspy voice whispered angrily. Xerneas recognized the voice as Yveltal's, and as she felt the aura moving away, she followed it.

"Stop Yveltal from destroying the world. Got it, Arceus. This shouldn't be difficult at all." Xerneas snorted with sarcasm as she followed the dark trail of aura.

* * *

As pale dawn light crept across the Allearth Forest, Xerneas stirred around on the ground under the tree where she had decided to sleep. For the first time in a few days, Xerneas could only detect faint traces of Yveltal's dark aura, which gave her a little more piece of mind. Feeling the need to walk around, she stood up and leisurely made her way through the blooming trees. Petals flowed through the air as the sun warmed and opened up the trees' flowers. _No trace of Yveltal here,_ Xerneas thought to herself with a smile. She suddenly looked down at her feet, which had lost their bright tan color for a light blue, and saw many small flowers quickly sprouting and opening right next to her hooves. Slowly looking behind her, Xerneas saw that flowers were blooming all over the ground everywhere she had walked, and the whole atmosphere seemed to be more alive. "What in the…" Xerneas couldn't believe what she was seeing. Until now, she really hadn't realized to what extent Arceus had changed her. Feeling uneasy, Xerneas kept following Yveltal's aura, not looking back to see how she was unknowingly changing the landscape. All she wanted to think about was destroying Yveltal and reviving the castle. _At least Yveltal's moving towards the castle again,_ Xerneas told herself. _Then I can kill two birds with one stone._

* * *

Xerneas walked all day, every day as the sun rose and set over and over again. _Strange,_ Xerneas wondered. _When I followed the lights to Arceus it only took a little while to travel this far, but now it may take a few weeks. And I don't even remember the landscape around me being this complicated…_ Before Xerneas could ponder on this more she heard a few stones fall from above her on the cliff face she was climbing down. She quickly looked up and braced herself for a fight, but she couldn't see anyone. Still feeling as though she was being watched, Xerneas ran as fast as she could down the slope. As she was running, she stepped on a sandy spot and her hooves started to slide down the cliff face, the small pebbles grinding under her weight. A large rock came up ahead, and without thinking Xerneas jumped over it, landing on all fours in a pillow of grass at the bottom of the cliff.

"Well done. You've got guts, deer-lady." A voice higher up the cliff laughed at Xerneas, and she froze in surprise. She turned around slowly to eye the pokémon that had crept up on her, and saw the blue serpentine body of a dragonair. The deep blue orb on his chest glowed brilliantly in the early morning light, and he held his head up proudly, displaying the horn and wings atop his head.

"You talk like you could do better, snake-face." Xerneas spat back at the dragonair. "Now quit following me. I have to be somewhere." She turned around and casually walked in the direction of the forest up ahead.

The sound of crunching pebbles and grass being pushed to the side told Xerneas that the dragonair was following her. Hoping that the pokémon would find something more interesting and leave, Xerneas kept on walking in the direction the castle, still being led by Yveltal's aura like a fish on a line. She just hoped that if she was the fish, she would be able to fight off the fisherman.

* * *

As Xerneas found a nice place to sleep under a large sycamore tree, she couldn't ignore the fact that the dragonair had settled down beside her. He had been following her all day without saying a word, but then again, Xerneas hadn't spoken either. The silence between the strangers was too much for Xerneas, and she finally had to speak.

"By the way, dragon, I just wanted to ask you one question: who are you and _WHY_ are you following me?" Xerneas's anger exploded all at once as she stood up and stared at her stalker, panting heavily and sweating with rage.

The dragonair tried to maintain his cool, but he was soon frightened by Xerneas's death glare. "I…I saw the trail that you left behind." he sat up and motioned to the grass where Xerneas had walked and where hundreds of flowers had bloomed. "A bunch of pokémon in the area were telling me about a special pokémon that was walking through the woods, one that could make things sprout out of nowhere. I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity, so I followed you." The dragonair displayed a nervous smile, but Xerneas was not convinced.

"What opportunity?" she asked.

"To…to fix my homeland, the Isle of Dragons. It has been suffering from clear-cutting by humans and has turned to a wasteland. I think you can restore it—I see how you make the land you walk on more beautiful, so I wanted to know if you would fix my home." The dragonair looked up at her expectantly.

"Is this a trick?" Xerneas got closer to the dragon's face.

"No, not at all." The dragonair was beginning to sweat.

Xerneas then realized that she couldn't pass up _her_ opportunity. She smiled deviously at the thought. "All right, I'll fix your home, but on one condition. You must follow me to help destroy Yveltal and fix the castle that was once my home, and then I will fix your…Isle of Whatevers. Got it?"

The dragonair looked a little scared. "But the dragons at my home…they won't last much longer…"

"Do we have a deal or not? That is my only offer." Xerneas looked at the dragon with an evil eye.

"I guess..." the dragonair huffed. "But we need to be quick."

"Don't worry, this will be easy." Xerneas raised her head proudly. "By the way, what's your name? I don't think you ever told me."

"Drake." the dragonair seemed to regain some dignity after his not-so-favorable deal.

"Mine's Xerneas." Xerneas said, ditching her business tone. "Now, if we are to go after Yveltal, I suggest we sleep tonight."

"I agree." Drake replied as he coiled himself up under the tree. Xerneas sat back down and rested her head on her hooves. It was a clear night, and the moon made the mountains in the distance glitter with a silver hue. On the top of the tallest mountain stood a structure that Xerneas recognized as the castle. _I will bring you back to your former glory, Kalos palace._ Xerneas whispered to the distant shape. _I promise._

* * *

Xerneas awoke quickly as she saw the sun rising. She scarfed down a few berries that had suddenly appeared on the tree that morning. Marveling at how the tree had grown so much fruit, she almost failed to notice that Drake was still sleeping. Not knowing what else to do, Xerneas kicked him hard in the side, and the dragon woke with a wheeze.

"What the…hey! What was that for?" Drake asked angrily as he rubbed his side with his tail. "If you treat me like that then I won't help you revive your dumb castle."

"And if you don't get up and stop insulting my castle, then I'll make sure nobody helps your stupid Isle of Dragons." Xerneas retorted.  
Drake laughed. "At least you got the name right this time! That's always a plus!"

It took all of Xerneas's power to restrain herself from swearing at the dragon as she turned around and started to walk through the forest again. Drake absentmindedly followed her, knowing how in a hurry she was to get to the castle. Taking her mind off of her annoying travel buddy, Xerneas noticed that Yveltal's dark aura was leading her in a different direction- towards the distant Kalos Mountain Range, where the largest mountains in the region were located. The one thing that Xerneas knew about that area was that the mountains were filled with dangerous cliffs and crags that housed menacing pokémon. Xerneas stopped walking for a moment and studied the aura that she sensed in the air. It was as if there were layers upon layers of dark aura, as if Yveltal had gone this way before. "That must be his lair…" Xerneas said to herself.

"What?" Drake asked in vain; Xerneas was too intent on using her newly acquired acute sense of aura to track Yveltal to hear anything he said. The dragonair rolled his eyes and followed the delusional yet manipulative fairy pokémon.

* * *

Xerneas continued to follow the aura until she came to the foothills of the Kalos Mountain Range. She looked back at the smaller mountains that contained her old home; now that mountain range looked like an offshoot from the larger mountains, almost like the skinny tail-end of a snake. Yveltal's aura slithered through a valley between the two large mountains ahead of Xerneas. Their peaks were so tall that in the fading daylight they cast ominous shadows on the valley below. Xerneas felt Drake stiffen beside her as he looked at the path ahead. "Are we really going into the mountains?" he asked, his voice wavering with fear.

"Yveltal is in there, so we must." Xerneas replied stiffly, trying to hide her fear.

"But those mountains are so tall and dangerous, and they're apparently growing every year from seismic activity…" Drake rambled on, but Xerneas ignored him and proceeded to follow Yveltal's aura through the valley. Despite his fears, Drake followed close behind.

* * *

The two pokémon walked through the mountain range, up steep cliffs, and through deep valleys for two weeks before Xerneas found what she was looking for: the epicenter of Yveltal's dark aura. Along the way the two pokémon had become closer; their shared fear of the mountain and the monsters in it gave them a reason to stick close together. They were even sleeping closer together at night for fear that one of them might be picked off by hungry predators if they slept apart. Xerneas didn't care about Drake's friendliness towards her; all she could think about was dealing with Yveltal and getting Aldrich back. Once she had Aldrich and the other members of the royal family back, she wouldn't need any other "friends" like Drake.

As Xerneas and Drake made their way to the top of one of the larger mountains, Xerneas got a view of the largest peak in the Kalos region, and she could feel the dark aura falling from the peak like a waterfall. Not quite tall enough to stay snow-covered, the peak was still extremely tall, and Xerneas thought she could see a small cave near the summit. "That must be Yveltal's den, right?" Drake squinted to look at the small black dot on the faraway mountain.

"My aura senses tell me that it is." Relief flooded over Xerneas. Her quest might finally be over, and soon she would be home again as if all the recent bad things had never happened. It would all just feel like a bad dream.

"Would you like me to see if I can fly both of us over there, so it won't take us as long to reach the mountain?" Drake flexed the white wings on the sides of his head in anticipation.

"No, Drake. It's too dangerous." Xerneas stuck out her front hoof to block the pokémon's movements. She knew that Drake had the ability to fly and carry her while doing so, but she didn't want to risk Yveltal spotting them in the air. A longer travel time was a small price to pay for not being caught by the aura-sucking beast.

"I suppose we should start making our way to the mountain then, since we only have three or four more hours of daylight left." Drake sighed, frustrated at not being able to use his wings for so long.

"Yes, let's go." Xerneas led the way down the barren, rocky slope towards a gigantic valley filled with lush plant growth, forests, and a winding river. The valley was the only thing that separated Xerneas from the mountain. She wasn't even sure what lay after the mountain range; she had never known a pokémon that had made it all the way across.

"Hey Xerneas," Drake asked cautiously, slightly afraid of the answer, "If you can sense Yveltal's aura, does that mean that he can sense yours?"

Xerneas thought for a moment. "He probably can sense my aura, but if he did, he probably would have found me by now." She stopped talking and tried to reassure herself that this was true. Drake didn't ask any more questions; he could tell when Xerneas felt uneasy and he didn't want to make the situation worse.

* * *

It took Xerneas and Drake a few days to scale the mountain's steep side, but when they finally made their way to the outcropping that led to the cave, Xerneas was feeling anything but triumphant. In fact, as she looked straight on at the large, dark hole ahead of her, she felt shivers go down her spine. Dark aura was flooding out from the cave, so much that it buffeted her fur and made it hard to breathe. This was the creature that had destroyed her home and everyone she loved. Would she really be able to defeat it?

"Xerneas, do you want to go in and get this over with?" Drake asked with fake confidence, trying to curb Xerneas's fear.

"Y-yes, let's go." Xerneas's voice wavered as she slowly walked towards the dark entrance to what seemed like the underworld. Her stomach did a flip as she passed the threshold and felt yet another wave of powerful dark aura hit her in the face. The aura was so thick that even Drake could feel it, and it only got worse as they journeyed farther into the cave. After a few minutes, Xerneas noticed a dim red light coming from up ahead, and for some reason she felt the urge to run towards it. Drake slithered as fast as he could behind her and slammed into her back as she stopped abruptly at the entrance to a larger cavern. Xerneas stared down at an oval object in the center of the cavern at the bottom of a large pit. The veins on the thing's body emanated a deep red light that caused the claw-like things on the top of the object to cast shadows around the whole cave; even making Xerneas's and Drake's own shadows look demonic.

"What…is it?" Drake asked in awe.

"I…I think it's a cocoon." Xerneas whispered. She couldn't help but question if her aura senses had sent her on a wild goose chase or if this was really Yveltal in front of her. This could have been a decoy Yveltal set up to lure her into his trap. Then suddenly, as if on cue, a voice popped into Xerneas's head, silencing her thoughts instantly. It was Arceus's voice, but he was nowhere to be found. Xerneas didn't think she felt a shift in the aura patterns that would signal his arrival; Arceus was clever and preferred to stay undetected in that sense.

"Xerneas, do not question your new abilities that I have given you. Only question your own mind and your ability to use your new abilities."

"What?! That doesn't even make sense!" Xerneas's voice reverberated off the cavern's walls, causing Drake to cover his ears in pain. No matter how hard she yelled, she knew that that was all Arceus was going to say. "Stupid Arceus…" Xerneas muttered to herself in frustration as Drake rubbed his throbbing ears. "Why can't he just straight up tell me what to do?!"

"Because that would be cheating." Drake displayed a cheeky smile.

"Just shut up, Drake. I have to think." Xerneas snapped at the dragon. She started to pace rapidly, casting occasional glances toward the cocoon. Somehow she would have to wake it up, but how?

"Maybe you can use your aura to awaken Yveltal." Drake's nervous voice was almost a squeak; he knew he would anger Xerneas for interrupting.

And that's exactly what Xerneas was: angry at losing her concentration. She slowly turned around to face Drake, so much anger seething out of her body that it was almost visible. "What are you talking about?"

"You know… use your… fairy aura or something." Drake's voice quivered under Xerneas's judgmental glare.

" _Fairy_ aura?"

"Yes, the aura that you let off all the time. Everyone can sense it. That's why flowers spring up wherever you walk."

Xerneas's anger slowly subsided as she listened to Drake's explanation. This… _fairy aura_ as Drake called it was given to her by Arceus, so would it counteract Yveltal's dark aura? Xerneas wasn't even good at controlling this power that flowed out from her, so how could she channel it to Yveltal? She wasn't sure about anything, but she had to try something. She turned back to the cocoon and concentrated on it as hard as she could, trying to find some way to direct her fairy aura toward it. As she did this she felt a strange energy envelop her, followed by a surprised gasp from Drake.

"Xerneas, your horns! Th…they're changing color and glowing!"

Xerneas glanced in the corner of her eye and saw her horns change from a light blue color to tan as a strange new glowing point sprouted toward the end. It looked slightly familiar to her, and then she remembered that when Arceus had first transformed her the horns had been glowing this way.

 _They must do this when I'm using my powers,_ Xerneas thought to herself. She suddenly felt even more powerful than she had before and continued to direct her aura toward the cocoon. Her aura seemed to be easier to control now and it surrounded the cocoon like a ferocious pink tide, causing the thing to crack in multiple places and darkness to seep out. Suddenly the cocoon burst open with an explosion of dark aura, causing Xerneas's aura surrounding it to dissipate as it revealed a very angry Yveltal. He looked a Xerneas curiously, but quickly recognized her despite her drastically different appearance.

"Ah, sawsbuck. So you've come to revive your little castle? How sweet, but your journey ends here!" He roared in anger, his bird-like cry bouncing rapidly off the cavern's walls.

"How do you know why I'm here, Yveltal?" Xerneas asked, trying in vain to mask her uneasiness. "You've been asleep all this time, haven't you?"

Yveltal displayed a sinister grin as he flapped his wings and rose up into the air. "It is more of a highly aware coma, sawsbuck. I am aware of all my surroundings as far as my aura can reach, which goes for miles. I knew you were coming before you even made it to this peak. You are a fool, sawsbuck! It's no surprise your family died, having a terrible protector like you!"

"My name is Xerneas, and they should not have died, you Giratina-bred freak! I will revive them!" Xerneas felt her aura surge through her body again, and was strangely aware of her horns and the power that was coursing through them. With this new power, she confidently leaped from the ledge and into the air, hitting the surprised Yveltal with a powerful Giga Impact.

Yveltal recoiled back, not expecting Xerneas to react so violently and with so much power. "So, Xerneas, you really _have_ changed a lot. But it won't help you against me!" He roared loudly and charged at Xerneas, but she deftly avoided his attack with just a few steps of her long legs. A wisp of satisfaction burst into flame in Xerneas's chest as she saw that Yveltal was starting to become frustrated over her.

 _You may have known I was coming, but I did not display all of my powers before now!_ She told herself, gloating at how powerful she had become. _This will be a piece of cake!_ Little did she know that Yveltal was a quick learner, and had already figured out a way to get Xerneas off guard. He swooped down, trying to catch Xerneas with his claws, but the pokémon avoided him again. As Xerneas jumped up in the air to commence her next attack, Yveltal surged forward through the air and smashed into her with a Giga Impact twice as hard as her own. The air was forced out of Xerneas's lungs as she hit the cavern wall behind her and it took a few moments to recover. She staggered to her feet to leap again, but she was too late. Yveltal whacked her with his tail as hard as he could and sent her flying into another wall of the cavern. This time she was sure she heard something snap, and as she fell to the ground one of her back legs felt limp. Before she could barely even open her eyes against the pain, Yveltal reared his head back and brought down upon her a beam of red light, the same one that had turned everyone she loved to stone. Ready to meet her fate as a statue, Xerneas flinched as she felt the beam hit her, but she couldn't feel her body hardening into stone. She could, however, feel the life getting sucked out of her, and she wondered how much longer she could last.

Just as Xerneas felt like she would pass out, she heard an explosion, one of Yveltal's roars, and the pressure of the beam was lifted. Xerneas opened her eyes slightly and saw Drake attacking Yveltal with a powerful Draco Meteor. The dragon was flying around Yveltal so quickly that the monstrous bird couldn't seem to catch him. Drake quickly looked toward Xerneas and yelled to her. "Run, Xerneas! Get out of this cave as fast as you can! I'll hold him off!"

Dazed and weak, Xerneas took a few moments to understand his commands, then mustered as much strength as she could to limp out of the cavern. She didn't stop until she made it completely out of the cave and into the light, but in her weakened state she forgot where the ledge ended and she quickly found herself sliding down the mountain's steep slope. It felt like forever that Xerneas was tumbling down the mountain, hitting rocks and scrubby bushes, but eventually she felt her body hit flat ground and stop moving. She opened one eye slightly and saw that she had reached almost the bottom of the mountain, but everything went dark before she could find out exactly where she was.

* * *

Xerneas could hear the sound of braviary calling as they circled through the blue, mountain-scraped sky. The crisp wind blew flower petals from the cherry trees through the air, and Xerneas relished the familiar feeling of her home in the mountains. The royal garden was most beautiful to her during late spring, when the trees and the bushes bloomed with flowers of many colors and sent their aromas running through the air. Xerneas was so absorbed in the scenery that she was startled when she felt Aldrich sit down on the grass beside her. "Do you remember what your life was like before we met, Xerneas?" he asked as he lay down on the grass, putting his arms behind his head. "Did you feel more free?"

Xerneas shifted her weight to look at him and shook her head.

Aldrich laughed. "Xerneas, I can't tell which question you're saying no to."

Xerneas just stared at him, knowing he couldn't understand pokélanguage.

"Oh well," Aldrich sighed. "It doesn't matter anymore. I guess if you really wanted to leave, you would. I just feel like you could do so much more, so much more than just being a royal…pet, Xerneas. Like Arceus intended you to be something more. You can do so much, Xerneas. I know you can be something else, because you are so selfless and caring. Anyway, I'm just babbling. Do you want to go inside and get something to eat?"

Xerneas nodded and followed him as he stood up and walked towards the castle. "The chefs have been working all day for that party, so there'll be plenty of food…"

* * *

Xerneas jolted awake as she felt her back scrape against sharp rock. She let out a little screech in alarm, but was silenced by a blue tail that covered her mouth. "Quiet, Xerneas! We're not alone here!" She recognized Drake's voice and as her blurry vision cleared she could see the dragon in front of her. He looked beat up, but he was still more alert than she was. "I'm sorry I woke you up," he said frantically, "I was trying to move you and there's really nowhere to go and I didn't want you to alert any other pokémon that you're injured and we're here and-"

Xerneas whacked Drake in the nose with her front hoof as hard as she could, which didn't end up being really hard, but it still silenced him. "Just shut up, Drake. You don't have to apologize for everything. It's all my fault. Just leave me here and go back to your home, far away from Yveltal. I've been so selfish lately, dragging you into all of this. It's not worth it and you don't deserve it, so leave me here to fend for myself."

"I could never do that, Xerneas. We're friends." Drake smiled weakly. "I didn't come all this way with you just because I wanted you to fix my home. I…I didn't love that place as much as I said anyway. I'll stay with you as long as I possibly can."

"Whatever then, stay. I don't care." Xerneas rested her head on her hooves, which had now turned a pale blue again instead of the bright tan they had been during her battle.

"There's nothing around here to help you heal, Xerneas." Drake said worriedly.

"Then don't heal me. I don't need it." Xerneas sighed. Drake sighed as well and settled next to her, wrapping his tail around her. Xerneas felt strange that he cared enough to stay with her after she had dragged him into this mess, but she decided that she couldn't sway his conviction. They stayed curled together for hours until the sun set and the moon rose in the sky, a crescent sliver against the blackness. The sound of houndooms yipping and howling in the distance sent a shiver running down both pokémon's spines, and they soon realized that the noises were getting louder.

"The houndooms are getting closer." Drake whispered, his wings twitching up like a cat's ears as he heard the sounds.

Xerneas didn't know what to do. She could barely move, but she didn't want to see Drake get attacked. A pack of houndooms was very hard to fend off, especially if they were hungry. "Why don't you fly away and leave me here, Drake? I really don't stand a chance."

"No, Xerneas. I'm staying with you." He curled his tail even tighter around Xerneas. Xerneas was surprised at his action; she didn't understand why he cared about her enough to risk his life for her, especially after all she had put him through. She opened her mouth to say something else, but suddenly she felt two beams of light pierce her in the back of the head. She turned around and saw two beady red eyes staring at her through the dark, and as the creature that possessed them moved out of the shadows it took on the shape of a menacing houndoom. Twelve more of the sinister pokémon appeared beside the first, and as Xerneas looked at how many there were her heart started to beat against her ribs.

The Alpha houndoom stepped forward, its voice a low growl. "Dragon boy, give us the weak one and we will let you live. But only if you leave right now."

"No way!" Drake yelled back. "I cannot do something so unjust!"

The houndooms burst out in laughter. "Do you not believe in survival of the fittest? She will only weigh you down and make you a target for pokémon like us." the Alpha sneered. "Give her to us or we will kill you both!"

"You might as well just kill us both, but I won't make it easy!" Drake let out a signature dragonair cry, flew up into the air a few feet, and used Surf on the whole pack of houndooms.

The pokémon growled and charged at Drake all at once. Xerneas was surprised to see that none of them were going for her; it seemed as though they were more interested in proving their point than trying to eat at the moment. Maybe that's why they were starving.

It didn't take long for the fight to intensify. Everything was moving so fast that it was starting to blur, and Xerneas knew it was getting ugly. She repeatedly tried to get to her feet and fight, but her broken leg had swelled up and the pain of putting weight on it made her collapse. Xerneas's heart leaped in her throat as she heard Drake cry out in pain and the houndooms howl triumphantly. She saw that they were starting to overpower Drake and were all leaping on top of him until it looked like a mountain of their black and red bodies. Xerneas couldn't stand to see Drake get eaten alive, and she willed herself to stand on all fours. Trying to concentrate quickly, she felt her body light up as she used Fairy Wind, a fairly weak fairy-type move, but it felt like the strongest move she had ever created. The houndooms were literally blown off of Drake and slammed against the rock wall behind. They were so startled at the sheer force of the sudden pink wind that they quickly made it to their feet and ran away, wide-eyed and yipping with fear.

As soon as the houndooms were out of sight, Xerneas immediately hobbled over to Drake to look at his condition. Her breath curdled in her throat as she noticed that he was completely beaten up and bleeding from what seemed like hundreds of wounds.

"Xerneas, are you there?" Drake's voice was a hoarse whisper, when only minutes ago it had been much stronger.

"Yeah, I'm here." Xerneas said back.

"It's funny how you were the injured one before…and now it's me." he laughed dryly.

"It's not funny at all." Xerneas's eyes were becoming blurry.

"At least I get to die nobly." Drake smiled. "Rather than be eaten by those hungry savages."

"You're not going to die, Drake. I won't let you. I can heal you, and then we can get out of here and I can go save the Isle of Dragons for you. I don't care about Yveltal anymore. If it wasn't for me trying to defeat Yveltal we wouldn't be in this mess right now." Xerneas was starting to choke on her tears. "Just let me heal you-"

"-No, Xerneas! Don't heal me!" Drake yelled surprisingly loud and shoved his tail in her face.

"Why not?" Xerneas was confused.

"Because," Drake panted, out of breath. "Because you would use up all the energy you have left trying to save me. And you said that Arceus gave you the power to make people and pokémon live forever, but I don't want that. Death is natural and good for nature. You understand, right?"

"I…I guess I do. But I don't want to watch you die and not do something when I know I can."

"Trust me, Xerneas. It's better this way. I deserve it, after I've been lying to you all this time."

"What?" Xerneas asked in dismay. "What did you lie about?"

Drake coughed. "There is no such thing as the Isle of Dragons. I made it up. I live alone and I'm from this forest and… I haven't ever needed any help. I just…when I first saw you walking through the woods, with all the flowers blooming behind you, my heart just skipped a beat. I followed you until I got your attention, and I made up the whole Isle of Dragons thing because I wanted to get to know you better and the only way you would let me travel with you is if I lied that I needed help. I know it was stupid and I would have probably left, but then I started to like you more and I realized that you are even more amazing than you look. There's something amazing about you Xerneas, and it's not just how striking you look, it's what's on the inside. It's what helped you put up with me for all this time. I guess that's why we're here. It wasn't all you. It's because I love you that we're in this mess."

Xerneas didn't know what to say. All she could think about was how nuts Drake was, but then she remembered that Aldrich always used to say that she was amazing and capable of great things. But Drake hadn't known her for very long, so how could he say the same thing that Aldrich, who had known her almost her entire life, said?

 _Because he loves you, Xerneas._ A voice in her head told her. _Aldrich loved you too, but love does not need time or space to see things inside of us._  
Without a second thought, Xerneas bent her head down and kissed Drake. At first he was completely surprised, but then he leaned into the kiss as well. It was almost as if, for that second, the dangers around them had disappeared and they were completely inseparable. Xerneas was the one to pull away first as she brushed her muzzle across Drake's.

"Maybe I don't want to die now, Xerneas." Drake's voice was becoming quieter and hoarser, but he still managed to laugh. "But I can't stay here. Will I ever see you again?"

"I promise that I'll come find you." Xerneas whispered. "Sooner or later, I will find you."

"I won't be far away. I have a feeling that the next world isn't as far as we think, be it Giratina's realm or Arceus's. But don't worry about me." Drake smiled and coughed again. "Go get Yveltal and save this place like you were meant to do. I know it will be worth it."

"I can't do that!" Xerneas panicked. "I don't even _know_ if it was Arceus that actually talked to me days ago, or if it was my imagination. I don't think I can do it!"

"I…believe in you." Drake struggled for breath for a few moments until he took his last and went limp.

"Drake, please, no, not again!" Xerneas's voice cracked as she tried to "wake" him up, but his body was starting to turn cold. Suddenly she felt a strange wind blow around her, and in its streams of air were little pink flower petals. The wind rose up through the dawn-streaked sky like an ascending Arceus and whipped around the peak of Yveltal's mountain.

Xerneas stood up despite her broken leg and eyed the mountain with a new feeling. Her body gained power and her antlers changed to their colorful state.

This wasn't going to be like the time when the castle was destroyed. She wasn't going to lay among the shattered stone and glass and cry in the light shadow until she died. She wasn't going to let this end like the tragedy of _Hamlet._ This time, her antlers _were_ the stained glass that illuminated the area, and she was going to move on, up the mountain.

 _I understand now, Drake._ she thought to herself. _If you had faith that I could destroy the Pokémon of Destruction, then I will too!_


	4. Chapter 3: The Equalizer

Xerneas walked up the mountain slowly, leaving Drake behind her. She had managed to bury him under a pile of rocks, and it pained her that she may never see him again. But she had to move on, even with a broken leg. She continued to hobble, ignoring the pain, until she realized that it was starting to fade and her leg seemed to be working better. Eventually the pain subsided altogether and it felt as though it had never been broken in the first place. Xerneas stopped walking to feel the leg, but the place where before the bone had been snapped in two was magically whole again. She didn't think it was herself, so had it been Arceus? As she thought this she suddenly willed her power to come forth, and channeled it to all the other wounds she had received, healing them instantly. She wished she could have done this sooner, but she had tried before and nothing had happened. _Arceus, you little…you could have given me this power sooner…_ she muttered to herself.

Now that she felt much better, Xerneas ran as fast as she could up the mountain's path and made it all the way to the ledge by high noon, as the sun was in the center of the sky. This time she confidently approached the cave and entered it without hesitation; her conviction was stronger than her fear of the dark and the creatures within it. As she entered the larger cavern she saw Yveltal sitting on the stone floor, and as he turned around to look at her with his beady blue eyes she could tell that he had been waiting for her all this time.

"Yveltal…" Xerneas stared at the monster with such hatred that she felt as though she was boiling.

"Xerneas, you have finally arrived. Are you here to stop me from destroying the rest of this pitiful forest? I was just about to leave, and it's awfully rude to keep someone waiting."

"Everything about you is rude, Yveltal." Xerneas growled. "You have led to my friends' death, and many others that I may not even know about, and you must receive judgement for your wrongdoings. I will be the ax that cracks down on you and finishes your grueling deeds. It stops here."

Yveltal just looked at Xerneas, and although he was trying to mask it behind his charismatic smile, Xerneas could tell that he had been shaken, not only by her words, but by the aura that created them. "So, Yveltal, shall we see who comes out on top?"

"Oh, we shall see, Xerneas. We shall see." Yveltal's smile quickly gave way to a face of pure rage and a guffawing cry. "Are you ready to meet your maker, _Xerneas?_ Because I will send you crashing down to Hell!"

"So be it, demonic being of destruction, but I will not go down without you!" Xerneas yelled back as she leaped into the air and hit Yveltal with the rapid punches of Close Combat. The bird pokémon was buffeted by the attack, but quickly recovered enough to swipe his tail at her, which she avoided with a quick movement of her legs. Xerneas had never felt more ready for a battle in her life, even if she had been in countless matches during her days with Aldrich. She continued to avoid Yveltal's attacks and land her own Moonblast and High Jump Kick, much to Yveltal's frustration. She was astounded as to how much she had improved her skills just by believing that she could put her words into action.

Yveltal was becoming so frustrated and angry that his body began to glow red and the veins on his underside pulsed with an eerie light. "Shall we…widen this battlefield, Xerneas?" he asked rhetorically as he destroyed the entire side of the cavern with his powerful tail, the sharp bits of rock exploding everywhere. "Meet me at the summit if you want to finish this." Without another word he flew up into the sky. Feeling cheated, Xerneas followed close behind, not even close to giving up, even if Yveltal had all the flying space in the world now that they were outside. As she reached the summit of the entire mountain, Xerneas looked up and saw Yveltal charging through the blue oblivion at her with a terrifying Brave Bird move, covered by a shimmering aura. She knew Yveltal was expecting to hit her very hard, but she wasn't about to let this one move be the deciding factor of their battle.

Xerneas watched Yveltal come down, not wanting to spoil her plan. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead and her legs felt like springs under pressure as she waited out the few seconds. As soon as Yveltal got close enough where she could see his face, his eyes filled with the spirit of victory, she lunged out of the way and let him crash down on the hard rock of the mountain. The explosion was so powerful that she was thrown far into the air from the shockwave it generated and after she was able to stand up and collect herself she saw Yveltal face-down and motionless in the bottom of a newly formed crater.

She cautiously walked down the slope towards Yveltal, but the pokémon stirred and got up as if he had barely been winded. He looked straight at Xerneas, his eyes blazing with rage. "You're going to get it now, freak!" He charged at Xerneas so quickly that she had no time at all to doge. She was slammed into so hard she fell backwards off the side of the mountain, but before she could hit anything Yveltal flew under her and whacked her with his broad tail, throwing her back onto the summit like some kind of living volleyball.

Undaunted despite her painful fall on the barren rock of the mountain, Xerneas stood up right away and hit Yveltal with a Moonblast just as he was about to charge at her again. The bird pokémon quickly recovered, however, and swiped at her with the large claws on the end of his wings. Xerneas fell to the ground and sustained a few large scratches, but she got up just as quickly as she had before and tried to get Yveltal with a Megahorn. The bird pokémon avoided her but she was able to avoid his next attack. The battle seemed like it would never end, and Xerneas was starting to become concerned that neither of them would win. Both pokémon seemed so equally matched in their abilities; their battle was like a highly complicated dance: a set of coordinated movements containing both attacks and dodges. They were so similar in skill that it didn't seem like they had been battling at all. The only way to get the dance to end would be to tire out the dancers so much that they could no longer go on.

Yveltal seemed to be thinking about this as well; after missing another attack on Xerneas, he hovered in the air above her, looking into her dark blue eyes with their x-shaped pupils as he caught his breath, the shadows of his beating wings flitting across her on the ground, turning parts of her body darker than others.

Xerneas just stood there on the rocks as she caught her breath, watching Yveltal watch her. She had to think of a way to make this battle move forward, to get them out of this gridlock they were in. She had to be stronger, but how? Suddenly her mind went into haywire as memories came flooding back to her.

Aldrich telling her that he thought she was destined for something greater,

Peony being named after her,

Rebecca saying that she was brave,

Hilda calling her strangely human,

Arceus laughing kindly at her stubbornness,

and Drake telling her that he believed in her.

Xerneas took these memories into herself, churned them around, and suddenly felt their significance. All of these people and pokémon had believed in her when she hadn't understood why. They had seen the greatness inside of her that she was too blind to see in herself. If she didn't believe in herself now, she wouldn't be able to defeat Yveltal, and therefore she would prove everyone wrong.

"No, that's not going to happen," Xerneas growled to herself. "They saw something in me and I cannot let them down. I will not let my arrogance and self-belittlement blind me any longer!" Xerneas thrust her head into the air as she felt great power surge through her body. She knew now that she had finally reached her true state of power, the power worthy of a legendary pokémon. Yveltal saw Xerneas pulse with a light of every color, and was in shock. He didn't understand how this pokémon could become powerful from nothing, and in his state of awe and fear he willed himself to use Oblivion Wing. Xerneas saw Yveltal thrust his wings forward as he shot down an evil beam of red energy, ready to suck up her new and powerful aura. Suddenly the surroundings faded to a dark blue and became obsolete, all except for patches of shimmering light around her and Yveltal. Xerneas was now able to actually see aura, something she had only scratched the surface of before. With this new ability, she willed her power to her command to counteract Yveltal's dark energy. She stood in the shape of an X; her front legs and horns acting as the angled pieces, and sent her energy out towards Yveltal in a giant burst. The energy rushed forward, a giant blue-green X, countering Yveltal's Oblivion Wing and causing both moves to combust in a giant explosion. As the smoke cleared, Yveltal still hovered in the air, in awe at what Xerneas had done.

"That's a move I'd like to call X Blast." Xerneas said, displaying a crooked smile. "And I have much more where that came from."  
Yveltal grinned at her words. "As do I, deer-pokémon."

Both pokémon rushed at each other immediately. Xerneas shot out a spear of rainbow energy and Yveltal produced a blade of dark energy that both collided in mid-air and destroyed each other. The two were once again locked in a dance, but this time it was much more deadly and beautiful, each pokémon giving all they had for the fight. Instead of tiring each other out, the dancers were destroying each other.

Yveltal's impatient and aggressive nature was not helping him in this situation; he was becoming deeply frustrated with Xerneas, the one who could only days ago not even come close to injuring him. Now she was literally destroying him, even though he was the destruction pokémon. His anger was becoming so concentrated that he could feel it turn to power and rush through the veins all over his body, making them glow an even brighter red. He suddenly got an idea and started to fly as fast as he possibly could in a circle above Xerneas.

Xerneas could only watch as Yveltal started to gather a dark, Y-shaped array of clouds around him until he created a cyclone, keeping himself in the calm eye of the storm. "And I call this move Y Cyclone." Yveltal smiled viciously and clapped his wings together, sending the cyclone flying at Xerneas, its clouds now accented bright red. Undaunted by the sight, Xerneas stood in her signature X shape and released another X Blast at Yveltal just as the Y Cyclone hit her. Both moves hit each pokémon at the same time, causing Yveltal to be grounded and Xerneas to get nearly pulled apart in the vortex. After the aura of the moves faded away, both pokémon slowly and painfully got up, each realizing instantaneously as they looked at each other that there was no other way out of this than death. Despite this grueling fact, both pokémon had an unwavering desire to continue and as soon as they were able to stand up they started to generate another set of powerful attacks. Xerneas quickly shot out another X Blast and Yveltal a Y Cyclone move, but just as the two warheads of energy were about to collide and send each pokémon flying in opposite directions, and extremely fast green and black shape moved in between the two, and with a wave of its own energy it made both the attacks dissipate into the air as if they had never existed.

Xerneas and Yveltal could hardly believe their eyes. They had never seen nor heard of a pokémon powerful enough to cause such destructive attacks to just fade away. But this was not the only extraordinary thing in front of them. The creature that had performed this miracle was unlike any other pokémon they had ever known. It had a green and black snake-like body with hexagon patterns and a structure that fanned out behind its head. The hexagons on its body were outlined with a bright green light and some were alternating glowing white in a pattern that seemed so unnatural it was startling. The regal way the creature held itself gave off an air of power and confidence, something that both angered and frightened Xerneas and Yveltal.

"Hey you," Xerneas yelled to the creature, "get out of the way or I'll destroy you!"

"We were in the middle of something!" Yveltal roared.

The snake-like creature ignored them and didn't move a muscle; the only animated things were the lights all over its body.

Seething with rage, Xerneas and Yveltal charged at the creature simultaneously in an attempt to use a double Giga Impact. Without a hint of fear or flinching of any sort, the creature flicked the three small arm-like appendages on either side of its body upwards, causing the ground to erupt as golden light radiated from its body. The earth seemed to be punishing Xerneas and Yveltal as it broke up and its pieces flew at them, covered with a shimmering gold light. As the whole mountain range shook, Xerneas and Yveltal were thrown down on either side of the creature, unable to steady themselves as the ground rumbled violently. After a few seconds that seemed like hours, the rumbling stopped and the earth returned to normal, aside from a few rocks scattered around and cracks that had formed in the rock around the creature's body. Although the creature had no visible eyes, it seemed to stare at both Xerneas and Yveltal simultaneously, a notion that chilled their bones.

"Wh-who are you?" Xerneas asked, at a loss for better words.

The creature lifted its triangular head and turned to Xerneas. "I am Zygarde, the pokémon sent to restore order."

"Order?" Yveltal asked with gritted teeth, his blue eyes blazing with anger.

Zygarde whipped his head around quickly, extinguishing Yveltal's angry flame with his steely glare. "Yes, order. You two seem to have forgotten what your mission was, otherwise I would not be here. You were about to destroy each other."

Xerneas laughed. "I was going to destroy Yveltal, he was not going to destroy _me._ "

"No, Xerneas," Zygarde replied. "You both would have been destroyed. You are equal forces of nature. One is not simply better or stronger than another and you both are foolish for thinking so. Xerneas, you were sent to save Kalos and the world from Yveltal, but destroying him is not the answer. To destroy him would be to destroy yourself."

"Then how do I keep him from using his powers for needless destruction?" Xerneas asked, hearing Arceus's vague tone in Zygarde's voice.  
"You must convince him that balance is better. In order to remain new and at the peak of beauty, the world must go through changes of destruction and rebirth.

Too much or too little of one is detrimental, as it is with nearly everything else." Zygarde looked at Xerneas sternly. "Even I cannot tell Yveltal this. Only you can."

"Why me?"

"He will only listen to you because you are his most powerful opponent. I may be powerful as well, and there may come a time when he will listen to me, but now we need you to do this."

"All he has done is hated me and tried to kill me! What makes you think that I can make him stop doing what he's always done?" Xerneas felt the pressure of what Zygarde was saying nearly cave in on her.

Zygarde lowered his head. "You must have faith that it will work. You must believe that you have the quality we need."

Though these words had been spoken to Xerneas so many times before and seemed like a Deja-vu of meaningless sayings, there was something in her that clicked when she heard them, as if they were like stepping stones that she was given everywhere she went to follow her destiny. It was not mere coincidence that Zygarde said these exact words.

Xerneas made up her mind and slowly turned away from Zygarde towards Yveltal and cautiously walked forward. As the surroundings faded she saw the angry bird pokémon's aura, a dark black and red color, pulsing out from his body in a jagged pattern and lashing out at her aura and Zygarde's aura. As Xerneas approached Yveltal closer and closer, the aura around him became more and more chaotic, until she eventually got to the heart of it all: a gap filled with a different energy surrounding Yveltal himself. Xerneas could immediately tell that this was the aura of fear, and suddenly it became clear to her. The source of Yveltal's anger, hatred, and destruction had always been fear.

"Yveltal, why are you afraid?" she asked.

"I am not afraid!" Yveltal roared, causing the aura around him to become more frenzied.

"I can tell that you are, Yveltal! Don't hide it from me! Just tell me why you are afraid, so that I can help you!" Xerneas charged at Yveltal as the strong aura surged around her and buffeted her body, but managed to make it close enough to where she could touch him. His head was lowered and his eyes were blazing with a red light as he looked at her with rage. She let out her fairy aura to try to dissipate his dark energy, but it was very strong and hard to obliterate. Xerneas touched her nose to Yveltal's head lightly, and saw all of his memories at once: him being created by a dark force, rising into the mortal world and completely dumbfounded by it, seeing strange people and pokémon, becoming afraid of their power, and using the only powers he had, the powers of destruction, upon everything. As Xerneas saw these memories the angry aura around Yveltal faded and changed to the sluggish aura of sadness intermingled with fear. The red glow in Yveltal's eyes also faded and his face was suddenly filled with regret. Xerneas braced herself against the wave of the dark aura and despair that flowed out from Yveltal, and she felt very sorry for him.

"You were afraid…of us?" Xerneas was puzzled as to why a powerful creature like him would be afraid.

Yveltal closed his eyes. "Yes. I was and still am. When I came into this world I was told that I had to destroy it, but everything seemed so…powerful. Everything was filled with a strange power I had never seen before. A power opposite from Giratina's, and much stronger. I was afraid that _I_ would be the one to be destroyed, and it was too much for me."

"You don't have to be afraid of us." Xerneas responded. "You are one of us, one of Arceus's creations just like the rest of us."

"Giratina created me, not Arceus." Yveltal's body seemed to shrink as he said the words.

"Everything in existence is Arceus's creation," Xerneas found herself repeating Arceus's words. "It may seem like you were created by someone else, but Arceus is the true creator. You can be good like us if you want to, Yveltal."

Yveltal's eyes widened in distress. "But I am a pokémon of destruction!"

Xerneas shook her head and smiled. "You don't have to be bad destruction. You can be good destruction, the kind that wipes the slate clean for new things to grow and develop. That is a force that the world needs, and there is no one better than you to fill that gap."

"Can I truly be that good of a force?" Yveltal displayed his wings in front of himself to look at them. "I could destroy entire forests."

Xerneas pressed on, trying to make Yveltal see what he could achieve. "You could only destroy parts of a forest, and then I could make new things grow and let pokémon and people use the new habitat. It will keep the forest from becoming locked in a state of…eternal age…"

Xerneas trailed off, suddenly realizing something herself, something that both Arceus and Drake had hinted at. Could it be that permanence in this life was an unnatural thing?

Yveltal started to catch on to Xerneas's point, and the aura of despair around him started to fade to a feeling of hope as a smile grew on his face. "I…I will try to be a good force, Xerneas. But you must show me the way."

Xerneas smiled. "I promise you, I will."

Yveltal's eyes glazed over as if he was about to cry, and the aura around him exploded with good emotions. Xerneas snapped out of her aura sight and saw Yveltal standing there, a docile, happy pokémon.

"Well done, Xerneas."

Xerneas jumped slightly as she heard Zygarde's voice right next to her left ear. She turned to look up at him and saw that he was smiling despite his lack of a mouth.

 _What a strange pokémon…_ she thought to herself as she followed him over to where Yveltal was standing.

* * *

Xerneas and Zygarde followed Yveltal through the Allearth Forest as he flew through the noon-bright sky. Zygarde instructed Yveltal to use Oblivion Wing on certain areas of the forest that were old and needed to be revitalized, and said that Arceus had personally instructed him to do so. "I am the pokémon of order," he told Xerneas. "Arceus gave me the power to monitor our ecosystem so that I would know what needed to be done."

"So, when do I revitalize the forest?" Xerneas asked the computer-like pokémon.

"You will know when it is the right time, Xerneas. Trust me." Zygarde looked at her and winked with his glowing eyes.

Yveltal, after having destroyed a section of the forest and turned the trees to stone, flew over to them to ask what he should do next.

"That is all that must be done now, Yveltal." Zygarde instructed. "In another thousand years we shall rise to perform this same task. However, we may be needed for different reasons before then. But now I will knock down the rock trees to incorporate them into the soil." Zygarde used Land's Wrath again, causing all of the trees that had turned to stone to fall and crumble. "Now that we are done with that, I must say goodbye."

"You're leaving?" Xerneas felt a sudden remorse. She had started to like the strange dragon pokémon.

Zygarde nodded. "Yes, I must leave so that I can go back to the place where I monitor this world. It is the only way I can assure the environment's safety. You two will also go into a state of dormancy for one thousand years so that you can do the same."

Xerneas and Yveltal looked at each other in surprise. "We go dormant for one thousand years?!"

Zygarde laughed. "Yes, unless you are awoken by a disturbance. Once you do your tasks you will use up so much power that you will want to sleep. I don't think it will be as bad as you think. You must trust Arceus."

Xerneas hung her head, trying to sort her thoughts. "Can we at least follow you to where you leave to say goodbye, Zygarde?"

"Of course." Zygarde motioned for them to follow him. They walked through the huge forest until they came to the easternmost part of the Kalos region, where a large cave loomed over them, carved into the side of a mountain. Xerneas and Yveltal followed Zygarde inside the cave and all the way through its inky black labyrinth until they came to the deepest chamber: a large area with holes in the ceiling that let in light, allowing patches of grass to grow. But the most impressive thing about the cavern was the giant green crystals that had grown all over the walls, ceiling, and floor. Some were ten times bigger than Xerneas, and she could see herself reflected on their faceted surfaces. Yveltal and she were spellbound by the magnificent chamber of crystals, but Zygarde kept slithering on calmly until he came to the back wall where three of the largest crystals grew, their points arranged so they faced the same place. Zygarde touched each crystal, causing them to glow with a bright green light and multiply in a spiral formation into the cave wall. It was hard for Xerneas to understand, but it seemed that the crystals were forming a type of wormhole. She could feel the hole pulling her closer and was drawn to the bright, warm light at the end of its tunnel. After the hole was completely formed, Zygarde turned to Xerneas and Yveltal.

"Goodbye, my friends. We may not have known each other for very long, but I am honored to have met you. I will see you again." Zygarde bowed his head.

Xerneas and Yveltal bowed their heads as well, but suddenly Xerneas thought of something she had not realized before. "Zygarde," Xerneas asked, "how is it that we can wake up every thousand years until the end of time if we have only a set life span?"

Zygarde thought for a minute. "That is not a problem with Yveltal and I; we were created under special circumstances. But with you Xerneas, we must trust that Arceus has planned for this. I truly do not know. But I do know that I will see you again, in some form or another. Goodbye, Xerneas and Yveltal." Zygarde waved his six little appendages and slithered into the wormhole. It sucked him in and quickly closed until the cave wall was bare again and Xerneas wondered if Zygarde had even existed.

* * *

Xerneas and Yveltal finally made it outside as the sun was starting to set. Yveltal looked fondly at Xerneas and she blushed. "What Yveltal, aren't you going to say goodbye and fly back to your mountain so you can turn into a cocoon?"

"Yes, I will. I just wanted to thank you for helping me understand what I had missed before. I'm truly sorry for everything I did and I know that anything I can do will not be enough to make up for it, but I hope you can forgive me because it is better if we are friends instead of enemies."

"Of course I forgive you, Yveltal. You are my friend now, and there is no point in focusing on the past." Xerneas forced a smile. "See you soon."

"Yes, see you soon too, Xerneas." Yveltal smiled back and flew towards his mountain in the distance. Xerneas looked towards the other mountain with her castle sitting on top, suddenly remembering what she had planned to do for so long. She sprinted down the slope and ran through the forest as fast as she could until she reached the mountain. Despite all that she had gone through, she managed to climb up the familiar spiral path, nostalgia and a feeling of unfinished business hitting her like a tidal wave. She walked slowly to what was left of the throne room of the castle, and flinched as she felt stone break under her hooves. Trying to avoid stepping on any piece of rock, she finally made it to where her family's stone bodies were lying. A tear fell from her face as she looked at them, but she knew what she had to do. She summoned her fairy aura and felt it surge through her body, coloring her antlers and her hooves. In the dying daylight she illuminated the room with her rainbow colors, and even caused the pieces of the stained glass Arceus to glow. She forced her eternal-life granting power out, but just as it was about to hit the royal family, she remembered what Arceus and Drake had said, and what she had thought of when she had been talking to Yveltal. Maybe eternal life was not supposed to exist because the mortal world needed to be renewed, not have the same old creatures live in it. After all, their ideas and legacies were passed down to new minds that could make even more out of them and change the world. It would only make sense for guardians of the forest, like her, Zygarde, and Yveltal, to stay around to protect it. If she revived Aldrich and the royal family, she knew in her heart that they would not be happy to live forever. Without a second thought, Xerneas took the aura that caused eternal life back into herself before it could touch the rocks, and felt the energy that would make her live forever surge through her veins. After it was all over, Xerneas made her way outside to the front of the castle and looked across the entire Kalos region as the sun set. Suddenly she heard a noise back towards the castle, and when she looked she saw a group of around seven people entering the castle. _The new royal family._ Xerneas felt a sudden happiness flood through her. _I hope they can make Kalos a great and thriving place._

Feeling satisfied that she did the right thing, Xerneas knew that she couldn't stay at the castle any longer. She ran back down the mountain, pain and happiness in her heart at the same time. As she ran through the forest she felt her aura dragging her to the place that she had been transformed: the Allearth Falls. Xerneas walked through the shallow water into the center of the pool and let out all of her life-giving energy so that it would revive the entire forest—a move that would later be called Geomancy. She could feel her body stiffening up, and as she looked down she saw that she was turning into a large tree. But this did not frighten her at all.

"There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is all." Xerneas repeated the words from her beloved book. As she was starting to become sleepy, she saw everyone she had ever met all at once: Aldrich, Rebecca, Peony, Drake, Yveltal, Zygarde, Arceus, and her mother, whom she had not seen for so long.

"I am so proud of you, Xerneas." Arceus smiled. "You can do anything when you believe in yourself."

"Yes…" Xerneas said as she saw all of her family and friends watching her happily, their souls finally free. A tear fell from her face as she saw Drake step forward.

"You will come find me when this is all over, right?" Drake asked, his eyes tearing up.

Xerneas smiled as she felt her eyes close. "I will, Drake. I promise."


	5. Chapter 3: The Equalizer (Revised)

Xerneas walked up the mountain slowly, leaving Drake behind her. She had managed to bury him under a pile of rocks, and it pained her that she may never see him again. But she had to move on, even with a broken leg. She continued to hobble, ignoring the pain, until she realized that it was starting to fade and her leg seemed to be working better. Eventually the pain subsided altogether and it felt as though it had never been broken in the first place. Xerneas stopped walking to feel the leg, but the place where before the bone had been snapped in two was magically whole again. She didn't think it was herself, so had it been Arceus? As she thought this she suddenly willed her power to come forth, and channeled it to all the other wounds she had received, healing them instantly. She wished she could have done this sooner, but she had tried before and nothing had happened. _Arceus, you little…you could have given me this power sooner…_ she muttered to herself.

Now that she felt much better, Xerneas ran as fast as she could up the mountain's path and made it all the way to the ledge by high noon, as the sun was in the center of the sky. This time she confidently approached the cave and entered it without hesitation; her conviction was stronger than her fear of the dark and the creatures within it. As she entered the larger cavern she saw Yveltal sitting on the stone floor, and as he turned around to look at her with his beady blue eyes she could tell that he had been waiting for her all this time.

"Yveltal…" Xerneas stared at the monster with such hatred that she felt as though she was boiling.

"Xerneas, you have finally arrived. Are you here to stop me from destroying the rest of this pitiful forest? I was just about to leave, and it's awfully rude to keep someone waiting."

"Everything about you is rude, Yveltal." Xerneas growled. "You have led to my friends' death, and many others that I may not even know about, and you must receive judgement for your wrongdoings. I will be the ax that cracks down on you and finishes your grueling deeds. It stops here."

Yveltal just looked at Xerneas, and although he was trying to mask it behind his charismatic smile, Xerneas could tell that he had been shaken, not only by her words, but by the aura that created them. "So, Yveltal, shall we see who comes out on top?"

"Oh, we shall see, Xerneas. We shall see." Yveltal's smile quickly gave way to a face of pure rage and a guffawing cry. "Are you ready to meet your maker, _Xerneas?_ Because I will send you crashing down to Hell!"

"So be it, demonic being of destruction, but I will not go down without you!" Xerneas yelled back as she leaped into the air and hit Yveltal with the rapid punches of Close Combat. The bird pokémon was buffeted by the attack, but quickly recovered enough to swipe his tail at her, which she avoided with a quick movement of her legs. Xerneas had never felt more ready for a battle in her life, even if she had been in countless matches during her days with Aldrich. She continued to avoid Yveltal's attacks and land her own Moonblast and High Jump Kick, much to Yveltal's frustration. She was astounded as to how much she had improved her skills just by believing that she could put her words into action.

Yveltal was becoming so frustrated and angry that his body began to glow red and the veins on his underside pulsed with an eerie light. "Shall we…widen this battlefield, Xerneas?" he asked rhetorically as he destroyed the entire side of the cavern with his powerful tail, the sharp bits of rock exploding everywhere. "Meet me at the summit if you want to finish this." Without another word he flew up into the sky. Feeling cheated, Xerneas followed close behind, not even close to giving up, even if Yveltal had all the flying space in the world now that they were outside. As she reached the summit of the entire mountain, Xerneas looked up and saw Yveltal charging through the blue oblivion at her with a terrifying Brave Bird move, covered by a shimmering aura. She knew Yveltal was expecting to hit her very hard, but she wasn't about to let this one move be the deciding factor of their battle.

Xerneas watched Yveltal come down, not wanting to spoil her plan. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead and her legs felt like springs under pressure as she waited out the few seconds. As soon as Yveltal got close enough where she could see his face, his eyes filled with the spirit of victory, she lunged out of the way and let him crash down on the hard rock of the mountain. The explosion was so powerful that she was thrown far into the air from the shockwave it generated and after she was able to stand up and collect herself she saw Yveltal face-down and motionless in the bottom of a newly formed crater.

She cautiously walked down the slope towards Yveltal, but the pokémon stirred and got up as if he had barely been winded. He looked straight at Xerneas, his eyes blazing with rage. "You're going to get it now, freak!" He charged at Xerneas so quickly that she had no time at all to doge. She was slammed into so hard she fell backwards off the side of the mountain, but before she could hit anything Yveltal flew under her and whacked her with his broad tail, throwing her back onto the summit like some kind of living volleyball.

Undaunted despite her painful fall on the barren rock of the mountain, Xerneas stood up right away and hit Yveltal with a Moonblast just as he was about to charge at her again. The bird pokémon quickly recovered, however, and swiped at her with the large claws on the end of his wings. Xerneas fell to the ground and sustained a few large scratches, but she got up just as quickly as she had before and tried to get Yveltal with a Megahorn. The bird pokémon avoided her but she was able to avoid his next attack. The battle seemed like it would never end, and Xerneas was starting to become concerned that neither of them would win. Both pokémon seemed so equally matched in their abilities; their battle was like a highly complicated dance: a set of coordinated movements containing both attacks and dodges. They were so similar in skill that it didn't seem like they had been battling at all. The only way to get the dance to end would be to tire out the dancers so much that they could no longer go on.

Yveltal seemed to be thinking about this as well; after missing another attack on Xerneas, he hovered in the air above her, looking into her dark blue eyes with their x-shaped pupils as he caught his breath, the shadows of his beating wings flitting across her on the ground, turning parts of her body darker than others.

Xerneas just stood there on the rocks as she caught her breath, watching Yveltal watch her. She had to think of a way to make this battle move forward, to get them out of this gridlock they were in. She had to be stronger, but how? Suddenly her mind went into haywire as memories came flooding back to her.

Aldrich telling her that he thought she was destined for something greater,

Peony being named after her,

Rebecca saying that she was brave,

Hilda calling her strangely human,

Arceus laughing kindly at her stubbornness,

and Drake telling her that he believed in her.

Xerneas took these memories into herself, churned them around, and suddenly felt their significance. All of these people and pokémon had believed in her when she hadn't understood why. They had seen the greatness inside of her that she was too blind to see in herself. If she didn't believe in herself now, she wouldn't be able to defeat Yveltal, and therefore she would prove everyone wrong.

"No, that's not going to happen," Xerneas growled to herself. "They saw something in me and I cannot let them down. I will not let my arrogance and self-belittlement blind me any longer!" Xerneas thrust her head into the air as she felt great power surge through her body. She knew now that she had finally reached her true state of power, the power worthy of a legendary pokémon. Yveltal saw Xerneas pulse with a light of every color, and was in shock. He didn't understand how this pokémon could become powerful from nothing, and in his state of awe and fear he willed himself to use Oblivion Wing.

Xerneas saw Yveltal thrust his wings forward as he shot down an evil beam of red energy, ready to suck up her new and powerful aura. Suddenly the surroundings faded to a dark blue and became obsolete, all except for patches of shimmering light around her and Yveltal. Xerneas was now able to actually see aura, something she had only scratched the surface of before. With this new ability, she willed her power to her command to counteract Yveltal's dark energy. She stood in the shape of an X; her front legs and horns acting as the angled pieces, and sent her energy out towards Yveltal in a giant burst. The energy rushed forward, a giant blue-green X, countering Yveltal's Oblivion Wing and causing both moves to combust in a giant explosion. As the smoke cleared, Yveltal still hovered in the air, in awe at what Xerneas had done.

"That's a move I'd like to call X Blast." Xerneas said, displaying a crooked smile. "And I have much more where that came from."

Yveltal grinned at her words. "As do I, deer-pokémon."

Both pokémon rushed at each other immediately. Xerneas shot out a spear of rainbow energy and Yveltal produced a blade of dark energy that both collided in mid-air and destroyed each other. The two were once again locked in a dance, but this time it was much more deadly and beautiful, each pokémon giving all they had for the fight. Instead of tiring each other out, the dancers were destroying each other.

Yveltal's impatient and aggressive nature was not helping him in this situation; he was becoming deeply frustrated with Xerneas, the one who could only days ago not even come close to injuring him. Now she was literally destroying him, even though he was the destruction pokémon. His anger was becoming so concentrated that he could feel it turn to power and rush through the veins all over his body, making them glow an even brighter red. He suddenly got an idea and started to fly as fast as he possibly could in a circle above Xerneas.

Xerneas could only watch as Yveltal started to gather a dark, Y-shaped array of clouds around him until he created a cyclone, keeping himself in the calm eye of the storm. "And I call this move Y Cyclone." Yveltal smiled viciously and clapped his wings together, sending the cyclone flying at Xerneas, its clouds now accented bright red. Undaunted by the sight, Xerneas stood in her signature X shape and released another X Blast at Yveltal just as the Y Cyclone hit her. Both moves hit each pokémon at the same time, causing Yveltal to be grounded and Xerneas to get nearly pulled apart in the vortex. After the aura of the moves faded away, both pokémon slowly and painfully got up, each realizing instantaneously as they looked at each other that there was no other way out of this than death. Despite this grueling fact, both pokémon had an unwavering desire to continue and as soon as they were able to stand up they started to generate another set of powerful attacks. Xerneas quickly shot out another X Blast and Yveltal a Y Cyclone move, but just as the two warheads of energy were about to collide and send each pokémon flying in opposite directions, and extremely fast green and black shape moved in between the two, and with a wave of its own energy it made both the attacks dissipate into the air as if they had never existed.

Xerneas and Yveltal could hardly believe their eyes. They had never seen nor heard of a pokémon powerful enough to cause such destructive attacks to just fade away. But this was not the only extraordinary thing in front of them. The creature that had performed this miracle was unlike any other pokémon they had ever known. It had a green and black body with hexagon patterns and on each shoulder protruded two long tendrils; one side had red markings and the other side had blue. The hexagons on its body were outlined with a bright green light and some were alternating glowing white in a pattern that seemed so unnatural it was startling. The creature stood on two legs regally, its long tail waving behind it, giving off an air of power and confidence that both angered and frightened Xerneas and Yveltal.

"Hey you," Xerneas yelled to the creature, "get out of the way or I'll destroy you!"

"We were in the middle of something!" Yveltal roared.

The tall creature ignored them and didn't move a muscle; the only animated things were the lights all over its body and the slight waving of its tendrils and tail. Seething with rage, Xerneas and Yveltal charged at the creature simultaneously in an attempt to use a double Giga Impact. Without a hint of fear or flinching of any sort, the creature jumped high into the air and curved its body into a shape, something Xerneas recognized as the letter Z. A bright light bursting with white, green, blue, and red color gathered at the center of its body and shot down to where Xerneas and Yveltal were, carving the shape of a Z in the earth. As the whole mountain range shook, Xerneas and Yveltal were thrown down on either side of the creature, unable to steady themselves from the sheer amount of energy. After a few seconds that seemed like hours, the attack was over. The creature turned to stare at Xerneas and Yveltal with its glowing white eyes, a gaze that chilled their bones.

"Wh-who are you?" Xerneas asked, at a loss for better words.

The creature lifted its head and turned to Xerneas. "I am Zygarde in the most complete form, the pokémon sent to restore order."

"Order?" Yveltal asked with gritted teeth, his blue eyes blazing with anger.

Zygarde whipped his head around quickly, extinguishing Yveltal's angry flame with his steely glare. "Yes, order. You two seem to have forgotten what your mission was, otherwise I would not be here. You were about to destroy each other."

Xerneas laughed. "I was going to destroy Yveltal, he was not going to destroy _me._ "

"No, Xerneas," Zygarde replied. "You both would have been destroyed. You are equal forces of nature. One is not simply better or stronger than another and you both are foolish for thinking so. Xerneas, you were sent to save Kalos and the world from Yveltal, but destroying him is not the answer. To destroy him would be to destroy yourself."

"Then how do I keep him from using his powers for needless destruction?" Xerneas asked, hearing Arceus's vague tone in Zygarde's voice.

"You must convince him that balance is better. In order to remain new and at the peak of beauty, the world must go through changes of destruction and rebirth. Too much or too little of one is detrimental, as it is with nearly everything else." Zygarde looked at Xerneas sternly. "Even I cannot tell Yveltal this. Only you can."

"Why me?"

"He will only listen to you because you are his complete opposite and equal. I may be the most powerful, and there may come a time when he will listen to me, but now we need you to do this."

"All he has done is hated me and tried to kill me! What makes you think that I can make him stop doing what he's always done?" Xerneas felt the pressure of what Zygarde was saying nearly cave in on her.

Zygarde lowered his head. "You must have faith that it will work. You must believe that you have the quality we need."

Though these words had been spoken to Xerneas so many times before and seemed like a Deja-vu of meaningless sayings, there was something in her that clicked when she heard them, as if they were like stepping stones that she was given everywhere she went to follow her destiny. It was not mere coincidence that Zygarde said these exact words.

Xerneas made up her mind and slowly turned away from Zygarde towards Yveltal and cautiously walked forward. As the surroundings faded she saw the angry bird pokémon's aura, a dark black and red color, pulsing out from his body in a jagged pattern and lashing out at her aura and Zygarde's aura. As Xerneas approached Yveltal closer and closer, the aura around him became more and more chaotic, until she eventually got to the heart of it all: a gap filled with a different energy surrounding Yveltal himself. Xerneas could immediately tell that this was the aura of fear, and suddenly it became clear to her. The source of Yveltal's anger, hatred, and destruction had always been fear.

"Yveltal, why are you afraid?" she asked.

"I am not afraid!" Yveltal roared, causing the aura around him to become more frenzied.

"I can tell that you are, Yveltal! Don't hide it from me! Just tell me why you are afraid, so that I can help you!" Xerneas charged at Yveltal as the strong aura surged around her and buffeted her body, but managed to make it close enough to where she could touch him. His head was lowered and his eyes were blazing with a red light as he looked at her with rage. She let out her fairy aura to try to dissipate his dark energy, but it was very strong and hard to obliterate. Xerneas touched her nose to Yveltal's head lightly, and saw all of his memories at once: him being created by a dark force, rising into the mortal world and completely dumbfounded by it, seeing strange people and pokémon, becoming afraid of their power, and using the only powers he had, the powers of destruction, upon everything. As Xerneas saw these memories the angry aura around Yveltal faded and changed to the sluggish aura of sadness intermingled with fear. The red glow in Yveltal's eyes also faded and his face was suddenly filled with regret. Xerneas braced herself against the wave of the dark aura and despair that flowed out from Yveltal, and she felt very sorry for him.

"You were afraid…of _us_?" Xerneas was puzzled as to why a powerful creature like him would be afraid.

Yveltal closed his eyes. "Yes. I was and still am. When I came into this world I was told that I had to destroy it, but everything seemed so…powerful. Everything was filled with a strange power I had never seen before. A power opposite from Giratina's, and much stronger. I was afraid that _I_ would be the one to be destroyed, and it was too much for me."

"You don't have to be afraid of us." Xerneas responded. "You are one of us, one of Arceus's creations just like the rest of us."

"Giratina created me, not Arceus." Yveltal's body seemed to shrink as he said the words.

"Everything in existence is Arceus's creation," Xerneas found herself repeating Arceus's words. "It may seem like you were created by someone else, but Arceus is the true creator. You can be good like us if you want to, Yveltal."

Yveltal's eyes widened in distress. "But I am a pokémon of destruction!"

Xerneas shook her head and smiled. "You don't have to be bad destruction. You can be good destruction, the kind that wipes the slate clean for new things to grow and develop. That is a force that the world needs, and there is no one better than you to fill that gap."

"Can I truly be that good of a force?" Yveltal displayed his wings in front of himself to look at them. "I could destroy entire forests."

Xerneas pressed on, trying to make Yveltal see what he could achieve. "You could only destroy parts of a forest, and then I could make new things grow and let pokémon and people use the new habitat. It will keep the forest from becoming locked in a state of…eternal age…" Xerneas trailed off, suddenly realizing something herself, something that both Arceus and Drake had hinted at. Could it be that permanence in this life was an unnatural thing?

Yveltal started to catch on to Xerneas's point, and the aura of despair around him started to fade to a feeling of hope as a smile grew on his face. "I…I will try to be a good force, Xerneas. But you must show me the way."

Xerneas smiled. "I promise you, I will."

Yveltal's eyes glazed over as if he was about to cry, and the aura around him exploded with good emotions. Xerneas snapped out of her aura sight and saw Yveltal standing there, a docile, happy pokémon.

"Well done, Xerneas."

Xerneas jumped slightly as she heard Zygarde's voice right next to her left ear. She turned to look up at him and saw that he was smiling despite his lack of a mouth.

 _What a strange pokémon…_ she thought to herself.

* * *

Xerneas and Zygarde followed Yveltal through the Allearth Forest as he flew through the noon-bright sky. Zygarde instructed Yveltal to use Oblivion Wing on certain areas of the forest that were old and needed to be revitalized, and said that Arceus had personally instructed him to do so. "I am the pokémon of order," he told Xerneas. "Arceus gave me the power to monitor our ecosystem so that I would know what needed to be done."

"So, when do I revitalize the forest?" Xerneas asked the computer-like pokémon.

"You will know when it is the right time, Xerneas. Trust me." Zygarde looked at her and winked with his glowing eyes.

Yveltal, after having destroyed a section of the forest and turned the trees to stone, flew over to them to ask what he should do next. "That is all that must be done now, Yveltal." Zygarde instructed. "In another thousand years we shall rise to perform this same task. However, we may be needed for different reasons before then. But now I will knock down the rock trees to incorporate them into the soil." Zygarde stomped and made the land rumble violently, causing all of the trees that had turned to stone to fall and crumble. "Now that we are done with that, I must say goodbye."

"You're leaving?" Xerneas felt a sudden remorse. She had started to like the strange dragon pokémon.

Zygarde nodded. "Yes, I must leave so that I can monitor this world. It is the only way I can assure the environment's safety. You two will also go into a state of dormancy for one thousand years so that you can do the same."

Xerneas and Yveltal looked at each other in surprise. "We go dormant for one thousand years?!"

Zygarde laughed. "Yes, unless you are awoken by a disturbance. Once you do your tasks you will use up so much power that you will want to sleep. I don't think it will be as bad as you think. You must trust Arceus."

Xerneas hung her head, trying to sort her thoughts. "Can we at least follow you to where you leave to say goodbye, Zygarde?"

"Of course." Zygarde motioned for them to follow him. They walked through the huge forest until they came to the easternmost part of the Kalos region, where a large cave loomed over them, carved into the side of a mountain. Xerneas and Yveltal followed Zygarde inside the cave and all the way through its inky black labyrinth until they came to the deepest chamber: a large area with holes in the ceiling that let in light, allowing patches of grass to grow. But the most impressive thing about the cavern was the giant green crystals that had grown all over the walls, ceiling, and floor. Some were ten times bigger than Xerneas, and she could see herself reflected on their faceted surfaces. Yveltal and she were spellbound by the magnificent chamber of crystals, but Zygarde kept slithering on calmly until he came to the back chamber where three of the largest crystals grew in a glowing green pool of water, their points arranged so they faced the same place. Zygarde touched each crystal, causing them to glow with a bright green light and multiply in a spiral formation into the cave wall. It was hard for Xerneas to understand, but it seemed that the crystals were forming a type of wormhole. She could feel the hole pulling her closer and was drawn to the bright, warm light at the end of its tunnel. After the hole was completely formed, Zygarde turned to Xerneas and Yveltal.

"Goodbye, my friends. We may not have known each other for very long, but I am honored to have met you. I will see you again." Zygarde bowed his head.

Xerneas and Yveltal bowed their heads as well, but suddenly Xerneas thought of something she had not realized before. "Zygarde," Xerneas asked, "how is it that we can wake up every thousand years until the end of time if we have only a set life span?"

Zygarde thought for a minute. "That is not a problem with Yveltal and I; we were created under special circumstances. But with you Xerneas, we must trust that Arceus has planned for this. I truly do not know. But I do know that I will see you again, in some form or another. Goodbye, Xerneas and Yveltal." Zygarde waved his tendrils and suddenly blew apart into millions of tiny pieces until only two small green blobs were left; one had a red mark and the other had a blue wormhole sucked them in and quickly closed until the cave wall was bare again and Xerneas wondered if Zygarde had even existed.

* * *

Xerneas and Yveltal finally made it outside as the sun was starting to set. Yveltal looked fondly at Xerneas and she blushed. "What Yveltal, aren't you going to say goodbye and fly back to your mountain so you can turn into a cocoon?"

"Yes, I will. I just wanted to thank you for helping me understand what I had missed before. I'm truly sorry for everything I did and I know that anything I can do will not be enough to make up for it, but I hope you can forgive me because it is better if we are friends instead of enemies."

"Of course I forgive you, Yveltal. You are my friend now, and there is no point in focusing on the past." Xerneas forced a smile. "See you soon."

"Yes, see you soon too, Xerneas." Yveltal smiled back and flew towards his mountain in the distance. Xerneas looked towards the other mountain with her castle sitting on top, suddenly remembering what she had planned to do for so long. She sprinted down the slope and ran through the forest as fast as she could until she reached the mountain. Despite all that she had gone through, she managed to climb up the familiar spiral path, nostalgia and a feeling of unfinished business hitting her like a tidal wave. She walked slowly to what was left of the throne room of the castle, and flinched as she felt stone break under her hooves. Trying to avoid stepping on any piece of rock, she finally made it to where her family's stone bodies were lying. A tear fell from her face as she looked at them, but she knew what she had to do. She summoned her fairy aura and felt it surge through her body, coloring her antlers and her hooves. In the dying daylight she illuminated the room with her rainbow colors, and even caused the pieces of the stained glass Arceus to glow. She forced her eternal-life granting power out, but just as it was about to hit the royal family, she remembered what Arceus and Drake had said, and what she had thought of when she had been talking to Yveltal. Maybe eternal life was not supposed to exist because the mortal world needed to be renewed, not have the same old creatures live in it. After all, their ideas and legacies were passed down to new minds that could make even more out of them and change the world. It would only make sense for guardians of the forest, like her, Zygarde, and Yveltal, to stay around to protect it. If she revived Aldrich and the royal family, she knew in her heart that they would not be happy to live forever. Without a second thought, Xerneas took the aura that caused eternal life back into herself before it could touch the rocks, and felt the energy that would make her live forever surge through her veins. After it was all over, Xerneas made her way outside to the front of the castle and looked across the entire Kalos region as the sun set. Suddenly she heard a noise back towards the castle, and when she looked she saw a group of around seven people entering the castle. _The new royal family._ Xerneas felt a sudden happiness flood through her. _I hope they can make Kalos a great and thriving place._

Feeling satisfied that she did the right thing, Xerneas knew that she couldn't stay at the castle any longer. She ran back down the mountain, pain and happiness in her heart at the same time. As she ran through the forest she felt her aura dragging her to the place that she had been transformed: the Allearth Falls. Xerneas walked through the shallow water into the center of the pool and let out all of her life-giving energy so that it would revive the entire forest—a move that would later be called Geomancy. She could feel her body stiffening up, and as she looked down she saw that she was turning into a large tree. But this did not frighten her at all.

"There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is all." Xerneas repeated the words from her beloved book. As she was starting to become sleepy, she saw everyone she had ever met all at once: Aldrich, Rebecca, Peony, Drake, Yveltal, Zygarde, Arceus, and her mother, whom she had not seen for so long.

"I am so proud of you, Xerneas." Arceus smiled. "You can do anything when you believe in yourself."

"Yes…" Xerneas said as she saw all of her family and friends watching her happily, their souls finally free. A tear fell from her face as she saw Drake step forward.

"You will come find me when this is all over, right?" Drake asked, his eyes tearing up.

Xerneas smiled as she felt her eyes close. "I will, Drake. I promise."


End file.
